An island lost to overgrown woodland has been salvaged and transformed into a bird breeding site following major engineering work.

Dave's Island in Whisby Nature Park, west of Lincoln, has started attracting oystercatchers, great crested grebes, little ringed plovers, common terns and black-headed gulls since undergoing a revamp.

Work was due to begin in 2006 to clear 8ft-high woodland off the 50 metre long island.

And park warden Phil Porter said after initial delays the new breeding site was beginning to flourish.

"It was an island of waste material in a gravel pit with woodland about eight feet high," said Mr Porter.

"There was a problem of getting diggers over to the island to demolish the organic matter. We had an agreement with Royal Engineers based in Nottinghamshire.

"They had a training exercise involving the Territorial Army to build a Bailey Bridge and that was all set to go in 2006. But that didn't go ahead because the bridge was needed in Afghanistan."

Following this setback, the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust was able to secure £15,000 of funding from environmental body WREN to help re-profile the island into a low-lying site with sandy banks.

A pontoon bridge was then used by contractors Creative Nature to help complete the job.

The low-lying island will also act as a flood relief site during the winter and with the woodland flattened, park visitors have an opportunity to enjoy better views of the area.

The island was named after Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust's head of nature reserves Dave Bromwich after he played a vital role in developing the project.

For more on Dave's Island, see Tuesday's Echo.