Fundraiser launched to protect Blackswarth Road Wood, Bristol

Protect Earth said "decades of rubbish" would need to be removed from Blackswarth Road Wood

A charity is hoping to raise £40,000 to save a section of city woodland from development.

Protect Earth has launched the fundraiser to buy Blackswarth Road Wood in the centre of Bristol.

The environmental charity says it would protect the land, improve biodiversity and create a wildlife refuge.

The area is currently up for sale with the auction listing saying it has "scope for residential development subject to consents".

Philip Sturgeon, chairman of the charity, said any development on the site would be "neglect".

"I've just seen everywhere I used to go cycling with my dad changed into a motorway or a shopping mall.

"It's basically a final piece of woodland where there's not much around. Whilst it's small, it's massively important," he said.

Part of a Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI), the wood, which the environmental charity says is "crucial habitat" for wildlife including deer, badgers and buzzards, lies west of Troopers Hill and Crews Hole Woodland.

Blackswarth Road Wood sits west of Crews Hill Woodland and Troopers Hill

The site was once a formal terraced garden and belonged to a glass bottle manufacturer.

It contains a Grade II listed bathhouse and has no public access.

Backed by local community groups, Friends of Troopers Hill and Bristol Tree Forum, the charity said it hopes to get the woodland "back on track" by removing "decades of rubbish" and returning the space to nature.

The charity hope to create a wildlife refuge and protect the site from development

Mr Sturgeon said the charity had successfully bought other land through crowdfunding and a "land fund", including East Wood in Otley, West Yorkshire.

If the bid is successful, Mr Sturgeon said while access to the site will primarily "stay the same", volunteers would be able to get involved in the restoration.

The site, which has an auction guide price of £50,000, will go on sale on 13 September.