A WILDLIFE habitat in north Durham is set to be restored to its former glory.

Durham Wildlife Trust has bought around 7.5 hectares of land at its Stanley Moss nature reserve, near Sunniside, for a nominal £1 from the Banks Group after the developer decided to return it to community ownership.

The land is degraded peat bog that was previously planted up with conifers, which were felled two years ago as part of the first phase of the restoration.

The trust plans to extend Stanley Moss and re-hydrate the area by blocking up old forestry drains and drainage grips, and to then restore the rare habitat as well as protect the existing neighbouring peat bog.

Mark Dowdall, environment and community director at the Banks Group, said: "The restoration plans for this important site will make a huge difference to the local environment and we’re very pleased to be playing our part in enabling them to be realised."

The reserve’s vegetation has developed over a thick layer of peat and supports large stands of heather, bilberry and common cotton grass, which carpet the bog in shades of pink, purple and white in the summer.

The trust’s reserves manager Mark Richardson said: ""This purchase is important because Stanley Moss is one of the very few remaining blanket peat bogs found in the lowlands of County Durham.

"It extends over approximately 7.5 hectares and once covered a much larger area but the vast majority of this habitat type has been lost due to opencast coal mining, forestry and agricultural improvements."