Sellafield gives £460k to environmental projects

Environmental restoration is taking place at Longlands Lake near Cleator Moor

The company running the Sellafield nuclear site is to donate £460,000 to local environmental projects.

The company's Social Impact Multiplied (SiX) programme has already given the West Cumbria Rivers Trust £229,000 for the "People on the Keekle" scheme at Longlands Lake near Cleator Moor.

It is now donating a further £463,600 to expand the work to Dub Beck near Keekle and Mirehouse Ponds in Whitehaven.

West Cumbria Rivers Trust welcomed the funding, saying it would benefit both people and wildlife.

Sellafield's head of corporate sustainability Eirini Etoimou said the programme was "sustainability in action".

Previous projects have provided volunteering opportunities, improved wildlife habitats, and stabilised the river Ehen, the firm said.

"Vital" restoration work will take place at Dub Beck to boost habitats and water quality, with better access and a forest school planned for Mirehouse Pond, it added.

West Cumbria Rivers Trust's chief executive, Jodie Mills, said it was "absolutely delighted" with the funding and would benefit wildlife and those visiting "these wonderful green spaces that are the heart of the community".

Sellafield's head of environmental management, Martin Clough, said it was also good to see environmental teams at the site get involved in "volunteering opportunities on the project".