WITH spring just around the corner, Malvern Hills District Council is playing its part in protecting the Great British hedgehog.

The council has attached warning stickers to its garden machinery reminding grounds maintenance workers to check hedgerows and lawns thoroughly before using any equipment.

The warning stickers are part of a campaign organised by the British Hedgehog Preservation Society to raise awareness of the danger garden machinery poses to hedgehogs.

And the council is urging residents to show the same caution before using equipment such as strimmers, mowers and hedge cutters.

Fay Vass, chief executive of the British Hedgehog Preservation Society, said: “We have been delighted at the response to this campaign and thank Malvern Hills District Council for getting involved.

“We hope that it will save many hedgehogs, and would encourage gardeners and landlords to help further by ensuring that there is easy access in and out of gardens too - a 13-by-13cm hole at the bottom of boundary fences and walls will create a hedgehog highway that will help hedgehogs get around your neighbourhood.”

Council leader Phil Grove, leader of Malvern Hills District Council said: “Hedgehogs are in steep decline in the UK so it is really important that we show our support, and do all we can to help prevent hedgehogs being injured by machines."