AROUND 100 dormouse boxes placed in the woodland surrounding Roadford Lake by South West Lakes Trust since 2005 has increased the dormouse population.

Neil Reeves, acting conservation manager of the South West Lakes Trust, said: 'We are delighted to see such a large dormouse population at the Roadford site and intend to continue to provide more dormouse boxes for a comfortable environment.

'Hopefully, in years to come we will see a further increase in the numbers of healthy dormice.'

The study monitors the population of the common or hazel dormouse that benefits from the conservation programme at Roadford Lake Nature Reserve.