A SPOT of preservation work is going on in the New Forest. The district is dotted with burial mounds - or barrows - built 3,000 years ago to house the earthly remains of the New Forest's Bronze Age nobility.

But more than 25 of the mounds have been labelled 'at risk' after being plundered by amateur treasure seekers, who lopped off their tops in search of ancient booty.

Most of the damage was done more than a century ago when the excavations of fabled Troy and Knossos made archaeology the trendiest of hobbies.

The ancient earthworks are being exposed to more danger as bicycle wheels, animal hooves and ramblers' boots carve out ruts and gullies which are deepened by heavy rain. Even though some of the barrows measure 30m across, it is feared that without urgent action they might disappear altogether.

But now Forestry Commission ranger Mike Abraham, pictured, is working with English Heritage and English Nature to save the graves. He said: "We'll follow the barrow builder's original designs. First we'll lay down a special layer that will keep the existing mounds undisturbed, then we'll pile local soils and sands on top to cap them off and make them look exactly as they would have done when they were first built."