TWO retired farmers who have suffered from the national downturn in the industry have turned their land into a natural haven with the help of a new scheme.

Brothers Fred and Hubert Tattersall have done their bit to ensure that future generations of walkers and wildlife can enjoy the rugged splendours of the Pennine hills at Thieveley Woods, Cliviger.

The brothers, with the help of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, have converted 40 hectares - equivalent to 40 football pitches - of grazing land into woodland and opened it to the local community.

The farm woodland premium scheme pays farmers annual payments of £2,400 for 15 years to cover income lost as a result of converting farmland to woodland.

Hubert, from Eaves Barn Farm, Hapton, said: "We are getting older, farming is in the doldrums and we thought that it was a way of giving something back to the community."

Fred said: "Sometimes you wouldn't believe you were two miles from Burnley. Some of the views are more like the Lake District."

Native species of trees planted on the site include oak, birch, rowan, ash, hazel, holly and alder.

The woodland is criss-crossed by public footpaths and there have been sightings of peregrine falcons, ravens, wheatear, badgers and roe deer.

Keith Wilson, of the Forest of Burnley, helps run the Burnley's millennium woodland scheme which has planted three quarters of a million trees since 2000.

He said: "Fred and Hubert are a rare case in wanting to encourage walkers onto their land and enjoy it.

"This forest was started five years ago and now we can see the trees growing up. We are now aiming to encourage more farmers to join the scheme."

Landowners with at least a quarter of a hectare can find out more at the Burnley Jubilee Woodland Festival at Towneley Park this Sunday.