A ONCE-in-a-lifetime public appeal to save important wetland at Winchester has proved a resounding success.

Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust says the response was overwhelming with more than £90,000 donated towards buying the land - £28,000 of it in just four days.

The money has enabled the trust to purchase 53 acres north of Winchester, extending the Winnall Moors Nature Reserve to 160-acres, making it one of the biggest urban fringe reserves in the country.

It has been bought from Iris Whitfield who cared for the Chalk Pit Farm site for many years, who decided to sell it to the trust to ensure the area was looked after.

The Daily Echo recently told how the reserve was rapidly becoming an otter stronghold, with the shy animals regularly caught on camera passing through Winchester City Mill.

The reserve is also home to more of Britain's most endangered wildlife, such as water voles and banded damsel flies.

Bosses at the trust say they will now be looking at ways to make the reserve more accessible for visitors as well as providing information on what people can see and find while visiting.

A second project will also look at how best to protect the site - which has already been designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest and a Special Area for Conservation - and look at other options such as reconnecting the River Itchen to its floodplain.

Project Officer David Mallard, said: "The appeal we ran over the summer proved a great success.

"Winnall is an extremely important site for the wildlife trust."