A man who has spent the past 11 years regenerating Croydon's woods has been named the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) regional volunteer of the year.

Rob Sowter, 47, leads Croydon's sustainable woodland group which works towards preventing the borough's conservation land from being built on by re-introducing habitats that have been lost since World War One.

He said: "The woods need to be able to stand on their own two feet, otherwise they will be developed. The best way for this to happen is if we bring back their natural habitats and life cycle. These used to be looked after before the war but nobody has done it for a long-time now.

"We are also trying to make them seem much safer because the public perception is that woods are dark places where dark things happen, but they need not be."

BTCV said Rob won the award because he, "enthuses others with a love of woodland and good woodland management".

Rob, who lives in West Wickham, Bromley, is confident of success at May's national awards.

He said: "It was very nice to win the regional award and I am looking forward to the national ones. There are six regional winners but I would say I have an 80 per cent chance."