A rare species of insect has been given a new home at a West Sussex cricket ground and it is already settling in.

Environmentalists say Arundel Castle Cricket Ground is the perfect home for Gryllus campestris, the British field cricket.

About 100 of the insects were released at the ground yesterday in a bid to boost their numbers.

The crickets, which sing by rubbing their wings together, are said to have a 'song' which sounds a little like someone saying "cricket" in a Cockney accent.

Environmentalists say the association with the game of cricket is a coincidence.

Spectators at the matches create bare patches in the grass on the banks, forming the habitat the cricket likes.

British field rickets, which look like fat grasshoppers, are 17-23mm long.

Their decline has been blamed on the gradual disappearance of their preferred habitat thanks to changes in farming methods and grassland becoming too tall and dense or invaded by bracken and scrub.

Arundel is the only place in England where researchers from the Zoological Society of London were able to hear the species.

Arundel groundsman Colin Dick said with the cricket season almost over it was a perfect time to introduce more of the creatures.

He said: "The crickets have been recorded here since the 19th Century. We only heard three this year because last summer was so wet."

The crickets were released at two sites, the other being a secret location elsewhere in West Sussex, by the Zoological Society of London and English Nature.

Dave Clarke, head keeper at London Zoo, said: "To ensure the cricket population is secure and expanding we have to bring in captive-bred crickets, mimicking natural recruitment from surrounding populations.

"Reintroduction to the wild is the ultimate aim of all captive-breeding projects so it is fantastic to be achieving these results."