A NEGLECTED area of Tockholes could become a wildlife corner if residents back the idea.

The former pinfold, marked as a ruin on the 1848 Ordnance Survey map, could be put back into use for the enjoyment of residents and the education of children.

And villager Alex Heede is urging people to put forward suggestions for the overgrown piece of land, at the bottom of Old School Lane, while there is still county funding available.

Mr Heede, who has lived opposite the site for around 30 years, suggested a wildlife corner, with plenty of natural habitats to help creatures thrive, after the parish council began debating the area's future.

He said: "When I moved here in the 70s an elderly gentleman had a vegetable allotment on the site and kept hens. I don't know what happened to him, but he stopped tending to it. It's just been left to get in a mess ever since and is now overgrown.

"It is a shame that it's been left to ruin because it could be put to good use with a bit of thought. My suggestion is a wildlife project which people in the village can get involved in.

"There is some money available via Lancashire County Council so we need to make the most of that."

Mr Heede's proposal includes felling sycamores because they are damaging walls and snagging overhead cables; clearing and killing the weeds and covering with bark chippings; planting small native trees including rowan, pussy willow, silver birch, bird cherry and crab apple; and after a few years, as the membrane rots and the leaf canopy takes over, planting some native woodland wild flowers like bluebell, wild daffodil, primrose and campion.

His proposal has already received some support from residents living near to the area but Mr Heede is encouraging people to submit their ideas to the parish council.