A CHERISHED nature reserve has been saved for future generations by generous public donations.

Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust needed to raise £50,000 in under a month to save Daneway Banks, the home of Britain’s rarest butterfly the 'large blue'.

No sooner had the appeal been announced than donations started pouring in from local people, nature enthusiasts and lepidopterists [butterfly experts].

The trust managed the nature reserve for the past 40 years but was given a unique opportunity to buy the land when the Dowager Countess Bathurst decided to sell it.

Daneway Banks is home to the large blue, which was declared extinct in the 1970s but was reintroduced in the 1980s using larvae and eggs from Sweden.

To this day the nature reserve is one of the few places in Britain where the breed thrives.

Roger Mortlock, chief executive of Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust, said “We have had an amazing response to our appeal to purchase Daneway Banks, a stronghold in Gloucestershire for the rare Large Blue butterfly.

“Our members and the public have been so generous and it has been one of our most successful appeals in recent years.

“This week we have reached our target and so now can begin the process of buying the land. Thanks so much to everyone who has contributed, helping us to secure this site as a nature reserve. We hope to have further news in the coming weeks.”

Local business Grundon Waste Management kicked off the funding charge with a £5,000 donation.