Water voles are clinging to life in North Yorkshire according to an Environment Agency survey of the area.

Along with Selby, York, Scarborough and Malton, waterways were surveyed in the upper Yorkshire Dales area around Thirsk and 7 out of 10 rivers showed some evidence of water voles.

Water voles are struggling to survive due to habitat loss and the presence of mink

Allison Pierre - Environment Agency

All the watercourses were selected because responsibility for managing their flood risk has recently been transferred from the local authority to the Environment Agency.

This is the first formal water vole survey undertaken on these watercourses and was carried out so that staff could take the findings into account when planning any flood risk work, or answering planning enquiries.

Environment Agency conservation officer, Allison Pierre said: "We only surveyed a small fraction of the waterways in North Yorkshire but the survey has shown that there is some hope for our region's water vole population.

"Although we found water voles in the Selby area, at Burniston Beck near Scarborough and Burdyke in York, a lot more work needs to be done to make sure that valuable habitat is protected to help the species survive."

The water vole's most common predator is the introduced North American mink and is one of the reasons why the species has been virtually wiped out in Britain, along with a loss of habitat.

Allison said: "Water voles are struggling to survive due to habitat loss and the presence of mink; however they are managing to hang on in some of these smaller watercourses. We are not really sure why but one reason may be that these watercourses are quite isolated and therefore the mink are not as much of a problem.

"The isolation is still a problem for the water vole population though, because if they are lost from these watercourses they will not be able to recolonise."

The Environment Agency will now be looking at what can be done to help the species such as restoring bank sides, eradicating invasive plants to improve their habitat, making sure that banks aren't damaged during maintenance work, and ensuring that water voles have enough vegetation for food and cover.