By SUZANNE ELSWORTH

CONSERVATIONISTS are fighting back against landowners who trash important wildlife sites.

The Warrington Nature Conservation Forum is to lobby the town's MPs in a bid to prevent these green oases from being destroyed.

The move comes after a potential Site of Importance for Nature Conservation at Glazebrook Camp was cleared of scrub which was valuable to wildlife. A second site, at Peel Hall, which already had SINC status, was bulldozed, leading to the borough council withdrawing its title.

Now the forum is worried that the owners of other contentious sites may see this as giving them the green light to clear land, removing the assets which give the potential for SINC status.

Council environment chiefs have pledged to raise the issue with the Government in a bid to increase local authorities' powers and the forum is backing this intention.

But chairman Tony Parker says that improvements in legislation alone are not the end of the story.

"This will still not be enough if we cannot produce evidence of the conservation value of sites to justify SINC status," he said.

"This will require that sites are surveyed to a recognised standard.

"The forum will be taking a leading role in this work."

The next meeting of the forum takes place at Risley Moss on June 2.