RANGERS will install fences to stop cows from eating water voles’ homes.

Until now cows have been able to graze along water ditches in Splash Farm near Arundel, reducing the amount of habitat for the rodents.

But thanks to a £4,500 grant from the South Downs National Park Authority, rangers will fence off the ditches in a bid to help water voles thrive.

The rodents are known as “ecosystem engineers” as they burrow in wetlands, allowing plants to prosper.