BEAVER spotting in Bavaria is something a group of concerned West Devon residents are doing as part of South West Water's investigation into using the animals to tackle water pollution at Roadford Reservoir.

The water company is footing part of the bill so people affected by any potential scheme at Roadford can talk to farmers, landowners and businesses in the German state where beavers have been living since the 1960s.

There are claims by South West Water that hundreds of millions of pounds could be saved upgrading water treatment facilities by introducing beavers whose dams would act as a natural water purifier.

But there are doubts locally whether the scheme would work and concern over the possible damage that beavers could create.

The two-week trip to Rhorstetten, a meadow and wetland community in the foothills of the Bavarian National Park where beavers from the Danube river reside, is to allow 20 residents to gain an informed opinion of how establishing a beaver population might affect their community. Funding for the trip has also come from the Ecology Trust charity.

There will also be visits to other villages and towns to see how people cope with beavers near to boating lakes and to visit a holding centre for beavers.

The trip has been put together by beaver expert Derek Gow who runs an animal sanctuary near at Lifton and is working with south west water on this project.

He stressed the importance of 'grassroots' support: 'The vast majority of people living by the reservoir are neutral,' he said. 'What we are doing is putting together a broad community base of people who could possibly be affected by this project.

'Once they have been on the trip they can say what they want about it. We couldn't do that with presentations alone.'