Sand lizards return to wild

Conservationists have given the country's rarest lizard a helping hand - releasing 40 hand-reared sand lizards into the wilds of RSPB's Farnham Heath nature reserve.

This RSPB footage shows the start of a long-term conservation project to restore the species to this part of its historic range.

Due to vast habitat losses across the UK, sand lizards now only occur naturally in Surrey, Dorset and Merseyside where it is confined to coastal sand dunes.

The lizards are believed to have been lost from the Farnham Heath site when the land was planted with conifers after the Second World War.

Forty captive bred sand lizards will be released into the RSPB's Farnham Heath reserve in Surrey later. It's thought the wild population of the endangered lizard disappeared during World War II.