A GREEN lung at the heart of Weymouth could receive special protection if councillors agree to declare it a nature reserve.

Radipole Wood is a six-acre site between Radipole Lane and Weymouth Way, near the Safeway roundabout. It has previously been planted as a community woodland and is home to a variety of trees and plants as well as several animal species, including bats, badgers and butterflies.

If the proposal is approved at tomorrow's meeting Dorset County Council's cabinet, the woodland will be designated a local nature reserve.

Dorset County Council's local nature reserve officer Lyn Cooch said if it receives the designation Radipole Wood will enjoy a higher status is planning law and will be better protected.

She said "A local nature reserve is a statutory designation which gives the area legal protection. To establish a reserve the site should have special wildlife or natural features in the area, give enjoyment to local people and provide opportunities for education.

"As it is a statutory designation, local authorities have an obligation to manage the site as a nature reserve.

"These reserves appear in the local and structural plans because they are seen as an important part of the local community. This gives the site more protection from development," she said.

"The site remains open access for people to go up there and enjoy it."

Ms Cooch explained that a Friends Group, made up of interested members of the local community, would be working alongside the council's own rangers to manage the site in the interests of conservation.

She said with the designation, the Friends Group would find more sources of funding available to it, through bodies like the Heritage Lottery and British Trust for Conservation Volunteers for restoration and conservation work within the wood.

the bid for designation is part of a three-year project called 'Working for Wildlife in Dorset', which aims to double the number of local nature reserves in Dorset. Just under 50 sites have already been identified as potential reserves.

The project lso aims to promote access to sites of wildlife interest in, or near local communities, and to encourage local people to become more involved in reserve management.