BIRD enthusiasts from across East Lancashire are being asked to help halt the decline of the UK’s most acrobatic and spectacular birds.

Swallows, swifts and house martins have all decreased in number over the past 30 years because of pesticides killing off insects and building renovations giving them fewer places to nest.

They are on the ‘amber list’ for birds of conservation concern and swifts are on Lancashire Biodiversity Partnership’s ‘long list’ of endangered species in the region.

The Wildlife Trust for Lancashire has made efforts to create a habitat for one of the family with its new purpose-built sand martin walls at Brockholes in Samlesbury.

Alan Wright, from the trust, said: “Specialist bird boxes can help to provide homes and give you some wildlife excitement over spring and summer.