Essex & Suffolk Water lawnmowing scheme saves orchids from the chop

The numbers of wild orchids at the two sites have gone from about 150 to more than 500 this year

A pilot scheme to prevent young orchid flowers from being cut down by lawnmowers has seen their figures treble in five years, a water company has said.

Essex & Suffolk Water's conservation team has been marking out orchid spots on its land with wooden canes.

The numbers of flowers have gone from about 150 to more than 500 this year.

Specialist Ashley Pinnock said: "There's so many this year, we initially ran out of canes."

The water firm, which serves nearly two million customers, said its "role in protecting the environment forms part of our company's purpose".

Essex & Suffolk Water's conservation team has been putting canes, painted red at the top, next to orchids growing in the grass

The 4ft (1.2m) canes, with red painted at their tops, have been placed at its water treatment works at West Hanningfield in Essex and Barsham in Suffolk.

They help the grounds maintenance team avoid mowing the grass in that area and cutting down the young wild orchid plants before they have had a chance to flower, in and around June.

Mr Pinnock said: "It goes to show that with slight modifications to the mowing we can help conserve vulnerable species such as orchids.

"All it takes are a few canes and a bit of time and effort finding and marking the orchids - you do need to have a bit of a trained eye, as they are not in flower until early June.

"We are really pleased with our achievement so far."