A CAREFULLY regulated grazing regime will be introduced on part of the Malvern Hills to encourage rare plants to flourish.

The Malvern Hills Conservators will fund the project using money from the Government's Countryside Stewardship Scheme.

More than four hectares at Old Hollow Land, West Malvern, and another 2.8 hectares at Lodge Fields, North Malvern, will benefit.

Conservation officer David Whitehorne said the West Malvern site was already home to valuable species of wetland plants and orchids. Lodge Fields is thought to be of lesser environmental importance but the Conservators hope to encourage more species to take root there through the scheme.

Sheep and cattle will graze at each location at specific times during the year to encourage "acid grassland". No more than one cow, or seven or eight ewes with lambs, per hectare will be allowed.

The theory is that the animals will stop the spread of scrub and trees from choking other types of vegetation.

"It will ensure that there's no over- grazing or under-grazing of the land," said Mr Whitehorne.

Maintenance of trees and hedgerows, including tree surveys, pollarding and the erection of fences to separate woodland and grassland are also part of the project.

The project was agreed at a meeting of the Conservators' land management committee on Thursday, May 29.

At an earlier meeting, similar proposals for Ballard's Land, near the Kettle Sings cafe on Jubilee Drive, were also approved. The plantation of heath-spotted orchids there is already thought to be one of the largest in Herefordshire.