HEDGEHOGS are being welcomed out of hibernation thanks to wildlife-friendly improvements to a Dunbar park.

Logs have been donated by David Carnegie, owner of Treetek, while Friends of Winterfield Park and East Lothian Council have also been working together to benefit a variety of creatures.

The logs will be used to make a large log pile for hedgehogs.

Jen Walker, Sustaining Dunbar’s pledgehog project officer, said: “We hope that the new hedgehog area will provide a natural daytime shelter or a nesting place to raise their hoglets throughout the spring, summer and autumn months, or in winter becomes a new place for hibernation.

“Dead wood also provides an important home for all sorts of insect life which hedgehogs then eat as well.

“We have also hidden a ‘man-made’ hedgehog house nearby so it will be exciting to see if either are used throughout the year.

“A hedgehog was seen regularly in the surrounding area last year and one was even spotted wandering in through the main entrance to the park.”

Friends of Winterfield have been working closely with the council’s amenities team to make wildlife-friendly improvements to the park.

Work has included tree and bulb planting, extending the wildflower beds and the development of a dedicated wildlife garden area.

Esther Hughes, co-chairperson and secretary of the voluntary group, said: “A year ago, we formed some modest plans to manage a disused piece of land within the Winterfield Park boundary.

“Little did we know that we would be building such a biodiverse wildlife garden and how much focus we would be placing on one little, and increasingly rare, mammal: the hedgehog!

“We’re delighted to have begun the construction of a log shelter to complement the hedgehog box we set up last autumn.

“We hope to provide a safe and sheltered environment for these amazing creatures and look forward to continuing working with the pledgehog project to make the park into a real hedgehog haven.”

Sustaining Dunbar’s pledgehog project ran last year, thanks to funding from Dunbar and East Linton Area Partnership.

Funding to support hedgehog conservation this year had been secured from Viridor and SafeDeposits Scotland.

To find out more, go to sustainingdunbar.org/pro jects/the-pledgehog-project