At the Close House Riverside site near Wylam, a team of staff and volunteers spent a day at the start of August, clearing the site of Himalayan balsam - a very invasive fast growing plant, which, if left uncontrolled, will totally cover the valuable native plants on the site.

Each balsam plant produces around 800 seeds, which turn into seed pods and then explode and spread up to 7 meters. They can also float, so will travel miles downstream.

One of the best management methods is to pull the plants out by hand before the seeds have had a chance to spread - hard work, but very important.

Close House Riverside is one of the suite of rare heavy metal grassland sites along the Rivers Tyne, South Tyne and Allen. It’s an excellent place to see alpine penny-cress flowers with the valuable grassland providing food for butterflies such as meadow brown and skipper. Rare dune helleborine orchids can be found in the riverside woodland.

Elsewhere at the East Crindledykes Quarry reserve close to Bardon Mill, support from Thompson has enabled the same team save the site from enthusiastic sheep who knocked down the dry stone wall to eat the grass and bushes.

Previously rescued by the Trust from being filled-in with shale waste from a nearby quarry, the site now sports new fences, which will keep the sheep out and allow meadow flowers such as autumn gentian, hoary plantain, salad burnet, wild thyme and cut-leaved cranesbill to thrive.

Ryan Molloy, Development & Environmental Director says: “We were delighted to support the Trust with this important conservation activity - along with their team of volunteers they are doing great work in helping to give nature a helping hand.

“As a company, we take our environmental credentials very seriously, so we look forward to working with them in the future on the restoration and/or creation of wildlife havens in the area.”