CHICKS are being given a fighting chance to survive with a boost from high explosives.

The Forestry Commission has been using explosives to create more than 100 artificial wading pools across the peaty expanse of Kielderhead, in Kielder Forest, Northumberland.

The 9,000 acre mire, which straddles the Scottish border, was designated a National Nature Reserve in 1998 and is a key breeding ground for wading birds such as the golden plover and dunlin.

Yesterday, the final controlled explosions were detonated to create shallow pools, designed to help this spring's flightless chicks survive by offering a food supply of aquatic insects and beetles near nests.

Environmental forester Bill Burton said: "We experimented with a few hand-made pools six years ago and the anecdotal evidence since then points to an encouraging increase in breeding dunlins in particular.

"It is critical new chicks find food during the first 14 days of life. At that stage they can't fly and mortality rates are highest.

"Using money from the EU bog restoration fund, we have been able use our experience and create pools to give wader chicks a better chance of survival."