A farmer has used his fields to change the fortunes of a wading bird once common to Britain.

Martin Hole restored large swathes of his land to the favoured natural habitat of the lapwing.

The number of the birds at his farm, near Pevensey, has increased from two or three pairs five years ago to about 40, earning him the title of RSPB National Lapwing Champion.

Numbers of the lapwing declined by forty per cent in the UK between 1970 and 1999.

Mr Hole's arable land was allowed to revert to wet grassland as part of a government scheme backed by the RSPB.

The charity is staging its annual Feed the Birds Day next month, encouraging people to leave bird food in their gardens throughout winter.