SOUTHERN Water has joined forces with conservation teams in Hampshire to build an otter holt at a sewage works.

The artificial wooden holt has been built at the back of Petersfield sewage works on a tributary of the River Rother in a bid to encourage the animals.

The project is part of a scheme headed by The South East Otters and Rivers Project, a partnership between the Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency, with help from the East Hampshire Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Project and the Sussex Downs Conservation Board to undertake otter habitat enhancement work on the River Rother.

Otter populations have declined over the last 50 years and disappeared from most rivers in southern England. Experts blame the toxic effect of chemicals and habitat destruction associated with agriculture and industry.

The company's Environment and Product Quality team worked with people from the South Downs Volunteer Ranger Service.

Southern Water's Senior Ecologist Bill Wadsworth said: "Otters are extremely rare and this is the perfect position for a holt. We hope it will encourage otters already living on the Rother to frequent this stretch of the river."

East Hampshire AONB assistant project officer Nick Heasman said: "The key to success is working in partnership. By all working together, there is every chance that we may look forward to otters breeding again in East Hampshire and beyond, in the not too-distant future."