SCORES of Scots pine trees are being planted at an Ambleside holiday park in an effort to help defend the Lake District's embattled red squirrel population.

Seeds from the trees are loved by native red squirrels, which have recently been in steep decline after being pushed out by the larger, more aggressive grey squirrels.

And it is hoped the trees will not only provide a food source for the red squirrels but will also provide a habitat for pine martens, who are natural predators of the greys and have helped drive them out of many areas of the UK.

Henry Wild, whose family have run the Skelwith Fold caravan park for more than two decades, said he hoped the planting of the Scots pines at the site will hasten the recent spread of pine martens from Scotland to Cumbria and help push back the grey squirrels, which were first introduced into the British Isles from the USA in the 19th century.

"Grey squirrels are blamed for the drastic decline of our native reds, but pine martens have been shown to keep their numbers right down as they prey readily on the greys," said Mr Wild.

"Reds aren't such easy meat because they are light enough to get to the end of branches where the martens can't follow, and are less dependent than greys on foraging on the woodland floor.

"Martens are also very beautiful and shy creatures being members of the otter and badger family, and the Scots pine is one of their favourite locations for building nests.

"Red squirrels also adore the seeds in the cones of the trees, and that's why we've decided to make Scots pines the heroes of our planting programme this year."

The trees, which will eventually grow to a height of more than 100 feet, have been planted in an area of the award winning site which was thinned of beech trees last year in an effort to encourage more diverse plant and animal life to the site.