Leicestershire council given £77k to tailor swift nesting sites

The RSPB said the swift population declined by 57% in the UK between 1995 and 2017

A two-year project to help swift populations recover has been awarded a £77,000 grant from Natural England.

Swift Action for Swifts - run by Leicestershire County Council - helps residents across the county provide nesting sites for the birds.

It is one of 63 projects to receive a share of £14.5m aimed at helping rare and threatened species across England.

The council said the money would be spent on buying and installing 364 swift nesting boxes.

The RSPB has reported the swift population declined by 57% in the UK between 1995 and 2017.

It said: "They like to live in houses and churches, squeezing through tiny gaps to nest inside roofs.

"As more old buildings are renovated and gaps in soffits closed up, swift nest sites are fast disappearing."

The birds have been added to the charity's Conservation Concern Red List - meaning they are in critical decline.

Leicestershire County Council said the funding from Natural England's Species Recovery Programme Grant Scheme would help them to provide more homes for swifts in locations where they have been recorded, but where their habitats are threatened by the installation of carbon efficiency measures in homes.