More than 5,000 species including rare bats and newts are recorded at Cambridgeshire's Wimpole Estate despite drought

The National Trust has logged 5,242 species across the 2,500-acre estate as it marks 50 years in charge. Since 2021 it has planted 125,000 trees and created 35 hectares of woodland and 52 of wood pasture. The tally comes with the East officially in drought and hosepipe bans in force across parts of the region. General manager David Hassall called the figure 'remarkable in any landscape'.

A tiny pygmy ant found there is recorded at only one other UK site.

Another 77 hectares of tree planting is now being designed for the estate.

Ben McCarthy, the National Trust's head of nature conservation, warned UK wildlife is 'under immense pressure'.