Volunteers are building an artificial otter holt in a bid to encourage the protected animals back to Sussex.

The rescuers have been working on a riverbank in Arlington, near Hailsham.

Otters were widespread in Sussex in the Fifties but numbers fell in the Sixties andy they almost became extinct during the Seventies.

Their decline has been blamed on pesticides and sheep dip pollution and many have been killed on roads and railways.

Now the Sussex Otters Rivers Partnership hopes to see a rise in the number of otters, as is the case in Kent and Hampshire, by ensuring they have the right habitat to thrive.

Partnership officer Frances Southgate said: "This year we have seen the first otter back in Sussex in ten years.

"To help bring more back to Sussex, we are trying to restore their habitat by ensuring they have sufficient shelter."