A PROJECT which has created more habitats for Burnley’s favourite songbird and established rural mountain bike trails has been shortlisted for a major award.

The Watershed Landscape Project, which took in the entire South Pennines, has been named one of the finalists in the Landscape Institute Awards.

Not only did the three-year initiative involve establishing hay meadows to provide foraging sites for the Pennine finch, or twite, but it also saw public information boards installed at Todmorden Moor.

Mountain bike riders have also been able to explore forest land around Hurstwood as part of the scheme, which was backed by the Heritage Lottery Fund and Lancashire County Council.

Pam Warhurst, chairman of Pennine Prospects, the regeneration agency behind the scheme, said: “I am so proud that the Watershed Landscape project has been recognised at a national level.”

For the awards the project, nominated in the communications and presentations category, will be pitted against UK and international competitors.

The awards will be presented at a ceremony in London on November 27, at the Big Top in Bloomsbury.

Eight new walking routes were also created on the moors between Saddleworth and Littleborough.