It was once a wasteland with just a few rather sad looking pear trees.

Today, Jan Curry's extended garden is an oasis for wildlife, from frogs and lizards to dragonflies and birds.

Even more remarkable is that Mrs Curry's sloping third of an acre is not set in some rural idyll but in the heart of Brighton and Hove.

Now her organic garden in Richmond Road, Brighton, has been shortlisted by the Sussex Wildlife Trust in the regional heat of the national Gardening for Wildlife competition.

Mrs Curry, 64, a retired teacher, is delighted at gaining recognition for the hard work she has put in during the past seven years since buying the plot, which was in dire need of a makeover, from neighbours.

She admitted: "I am afraid to say I had been chucking my snails over there for years - and they had certainly multiplied."

At first Mrs Curry, supported by her husband Derick, tried to fashion the type of manicured lawns that many of the city's most fashionable homes enjoy.

But she quickly felt such an approach did not suit the sloping land.

The turning point came when she bought a book about creating a wildlife garden.

Mrs Curry said: "I started digging some ponds and after a couple of days some frogs arrived, followed by dragonflies."

Today, the garden boasts seven ponds and ten bird boxes. Shrubs have been laid in a corridor rather than dotted around to make them more popular with birds, including robins and starlings.

Mrs Curry, who spends at least an hour a day working in the garden, said: "We have also had several thrushes, which are quite rare these days."

In the summer, the butterflies feed off cabbages, grown without the use of chemicals, and although there is plenty of bird food Mrs Curry does not mind if birds peck at the fruit trees.

She also loves watching the rich variety of insect life.

She said: "There are hundreds of different ones. They are all fascinating."

Spiders may not be everyone's favourite but she adores the creepy-crawlies that have made their homes among the cracks in the stone walls.

Mrs Curry's green touch is increasingly winning recognition.

She is a two-time winner of the Brighton and Hove In Bloom wildlife section and judges from Gardening for Wildlife, which is supported by the UK's Wildlife Trusts, have made an inspection, with the regional winner to be announced in a few weeks.

Mrs Curry said: "It does show that even when you live in a city you can still live side by side with nature.

"There is so much pleasure from watching everything."