BLUE tits have set up an unusual home - in a dog dirt bag dispenser.

Walkers in Spring Wood, Whalley, a popular area for families, have been reporting seeing blue tits flying in and out of the dispenser for three weeks.

Countryside ranger Paul Shoreman said: "If there are chicks in the nest, then I would expect it to be another 10 days before they fledge.

"They stay for about 20 days after they have hatched.

"The nest is certainly built properly though. It is made up of twigs and weeds and there are feathers at the top, which is typical.

"When the dispenser was checked a couple of weeks ago, some twigs and moss were found but we thought that it was debris and cleared it away, but when we went back again, there was more of it. It's obviously a determined bird."

The dispenser is just off a main path near to the entrance of the wood.

Mr Shoreman has had to put a notice on the dispenser asking people not to disturb the nest. It is an offence to disturb any bird while it is building or occupying its nest. The maximum penalty is a fine of £5,000 or a prison sentence of up to six months.

He said: "It is such a vulnerable place to build a nest. When people get close the birds will go very quiet.

"But they are under threat from bigger birds and squirrels who will take chicks, and from dogs jumping up. Last year we had blue tits nesting in a traffic cone at the back of the wood, but that was much quieter."

In the visitor centre at the wood, video footage is being screened from another blue tit nest near the ranger's office. Facts and figures about the birds are also available from the centre.