Hedgehog populations on Portland have declined, a new study has shown.

Research shows that hedgehog numbers declined from 2000 to 2015, by 50 per cent in rural areas, and 30 per cent in suburban areas.

This is largely due to human activity, from house and road building, as well as a loss of hedgerows and natural habitat, and widespread pesticide use in agriculture, allotments and gardens.

Hedgehog Friendly Portland, which launched in May, 2017, is working to halt this decline on Portland by raising awareness of the numbers and location of hedgehogs on the Island, ensuring the needs of hedgehogs are considered in new housing developments.

The group are encouraging more people to take action locally, so that hedgehogs can move easily and safely between gardens and allotments to find food, mates and nesting sites.

The group is part of the Dorset Mammal Group, which aim to reverse the decline by developing towns and villages into hedgehog friendly habitats.

The group are urging residents to develop hedgehog friendly streets by making holes in, or under, their garden fences and walls for hedgehogs to pass through.

DMG also encourage residents to adopt hedgehog friendly activities in their garden, for instance by providing food and shelter in gardens and where slug pellets are not used.

Surrounding areas Bridport, Piddletrenthide, East Stour, Halstock, Blandford, Dorchester and Bere Regis are already hedgehog friendly.

In a previous article posted last year, the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS) said: "There's lots of little things that people can do to make a difference.

"We hope to keep up the interest and great support that we get."

The Heights Hotel in Portland is hosting a talk, The Hedgehog Predicament, by Colin Varndell on Thursday, January 25, with doors opening at 7pm for the talk to start at 7.30pm.

The talk will cover the life of the hedgehog, and why populations have decreased so much in the past 15 years to less than a million, and what can be done to turn this decline around.

Tickets are £3, with all profits go to the DMG's work to support hedgehogs.

For further information, contact hedgehogs@dorsetmammalgroup.org.uk