ANCIENT woodland, ponds and grasslands near Wareham have been saved for the public to enjoy after an auction of land.

A last-minute appeal for a fighting fund to secure the land for the Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) raised just under £300,000.

The cash was enough to secure one of the four parcels of land at Creech, which went under the auctioneer's hammer at the Springfield County Hotel, near Wareham, on Friday.

Alistair Cook of the DWT said he was delighted that the trust had managed to purchase Kilwood Coppice and meadows, which lie next to one of its reserves.

The land cost £80,000. But the trust was not able to buy the other three plots, at Great Wood and Creech Meadows, as they were sold for £515,000 - way above the auction guide price of £170,000.

Mr Cook said: "We are very happy with the piece we got. It was top of our list and has ancient woodlands, paths, ponds and grassland habitats.

"It is next to our nature reserve at Stonehill and it will eventually have full public access."

The fighting fund was made up of around £100,000 in donations and the remainder from loans.

The DWT intends to return the loans and use the remaining £20,000 of straight donations to make further acquisitions and pay for land management.

The auction came as a result of quarry company Imerys deciding to dispose of the land.

The DWT managed to raise funds for the auction after putting out an appeal two weeks ago when it discovered the land at Creech was being sold.

First published: August 23