Work is soon to start on a £150,000 project to transform a nature reserve into a mecca for rare birds and other wildlife.

The reserve in Filsham, between Hastings and Bexhill, is visited every year by rare marsh warblers, spotted crakes and bitterns, but conditions are not suitable for the birds to breed.

Over the next three years, the habitat will be improved by creating more open water areas and restoring the plants which once grew there.

Public access will also be improved with pathways, footbridges and a birdwatching hide.

The work has been made possible by a grant from the landfill tax credit scheme, alongside funding from Southern Water, Sussex Ornithological Society, Hastings Borough Council and the Environment Agency.