THE wildlife of Warrington has a lot to thank Dr David Bell for - the ecologist who has moved on after 14 years in charge of the town's environment.

He was in charge of promoting nature conservation at a time of great change. And his message, and that of many ecologists, is increasingly getting through.

"People are more appreciative that a good quality environment leads to better quality of life and wellbeing," said Dr Bell, from Appleton Thorn.

"And it leads to economic investment."

Dr Bell came to Warrington as the borough council's principal ecologist in 1992 after a lifetime working in the south and found a new town landscape that was greener than the northern, urban, environment he was expecting.

At that time, local authorities were trying to react to green-friendly legislation.

Since then he has helped Holcroft Moss and Risley Moss become sites of international importance - and helped do the same for Rixton Clay Pits, home of rare great crested newts.

Paddington Meadows, 74 acres of traditional fields in Woolston, was one of the projects he found most pleasing - though much work of his work was on planned developments like Omega.

But there was always a struggle for hard-pressed council funds, especially as the number of external grants is drying up.

"Nature conservation is now always top of the agenda," said Dr Bell, aged 50, who now works for the environmental and planning consultants Watermans CPM in Birchwood.

He said conservation is about teamwork and added: "I worked very closely with landscape management and the ranger service and they deserve praise - the rangers are one of the least appreciated parts of the council."

And he hopes the council can find ways to promote the importance of Warrington's environment.

He said: "General awareness of things like global warming has improved, but I think there's still some way to go in terms of local issues."

sbailey@guardiangrp.co.uk