Conservationists and police have appealed for anyone with information to come forward after the incident which happened last week at Otter Lake at the Irthlingborough end of the nature reserve. On the 24th of June members of the public saw one of the banks being damaged, panels were broken and tubes filled with sand for the birds to nest in were thrown in the lake.

Sand martins were once scarce at the Nene Wetlands and three years ago the Wildlife Trust bought and installed two artificial banks at a cost of £3,000 each. Last year conservationists were delighted to see they were being used by sand martins to nest for the first time.

“As a wildlife charity we are here to create space for nature and protect species so to have to deal with criminal behaviour and harm to birds in this way is quite shocking. We hope those responsible will think very hard about what they've done and the loss of these beautiful birds to the Nene Wetlands. We will do our best to repair the bank but it will take time that we should be spending looking after the reserve.”

PC Emerson Knights, of the Rural Crime Team at Northamptonshire Police, said: “Our team is dedicated to tackling wildlife crime and take reports like this very seriously.”

Call 101 or find out more at https://www.northants.police.uk/news/northants/news/appeals/2025/july/appeal-for-information-following-criminal-damage-at-nature-reserve