AN East Lancashire nature reserve has celebrated its first birthday.

Brockholes, near Samlesbury, opened in April last year and more than 140,000 visitors have already explored the Lancashire Wildlife Trust centre.

Built on a disused quarry, the floating visitor centre and wildlife park have also been successfully encouraging animals and plants to make a home in the urban wildlife haven.

Lorraine Cheesmur, from the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, said: “We are really happy with how it has gone. We have exceeded all of our targets and species have increased their numbers more than we anticipated.”

When the site was first purchased by the trust, there were no worms, which play an important role in the ecosystem.

These have now been reintroduced and the wildlife is thriving, with numbers of birds like lapwings, redshanks and reed bunting up significantly on when the trust started work.

And new species, like the ringed plover and redshank, which could not be found in 2007, are now making an appearance.

Despite the difficult economic situation, Lorraine said that the centre had had a good first year and was almost breaking even.

She said: “It has been very, very busy and we have learnt an awful lot of lessons. It has been positive on the whole but not always a smooth road.

“But a year on we have really begun to become part of the area.”

Lorraine said that families in particular had really been enjoying exploring the reserve, bringing them closer to nature and giving them something active to do, without spending lots of money.

She said: “It is something different. It is about the environment and somewhere where children can learn about nature.

"Our location for Blackburn and the motorway is giving us an opportunity and people want it and need it.”

With 205 volunteers, Lorraine said the centre will strive to strike the correct balance between encouraging wildlife to come into the area and making sure the reserve attracts as many visitors as possible.

She said: “It has been a really busy year and there is just so much more to do.

“We have not finished yet. This place has got further to go.”