A FUN weekend celebrating Sussex’s hidden heathland habitats will give wildlife lovers a glimpse of Britain’s rarest reptiles.

South Downs National Park rangers will hold their annual Secrets Of The Heath weekend on September 5 and 6.

Highlights include live footage of newly hatched baby sand lizards, one of the rarest reptiles in the UK.

A new sculpture trail through Sussex’s heathland will also open on the weekend, drawing on sources including a 395-year-old map and Lord Alfred Tennyson, who lived near Black Down hill.

The national park’s heathland stretches from Storrington to the east to Bordon in Hampshire to the west. It is rarer than rainforest.

Katy Sherman of the Heathlands Reunited project hopes the event will inspire people to help save the park’s heathland.

“A habitat rarer than the rainforest, heathlands are a precious haven for biodiversity, including all 12 of Britain’s native reptiles and amphibians,” she said.

“But they are under threat and would disappear completely without active management.

“This virtual event is a great opportunity for people to find out how they can play their part in saving our heaths through the Heathlands Reunited project.”

To find out how to take park visit southdowns.gov.uk/events/virtual-secrets-of-the-heath.