THERE are more negative than positive effects upon the wildlife as a result of the widespread floods.

Andrew Fraser, wider countryside manager at Worcestershire Wildlife Trust, said some of the quieter flooded areas such as Longdon had attracted reasonable numbers of water fowl.

"That's a positive angle to this but obviously it can have a severe effect on the animals that live in the flood plane.

"Those that live in burrows such as badgers, rabbits and small mammals will have been flooded out and if they are unlucky enough to have been caught on an island they will face bigger problems.

"Most of them can swim to some extent, but only a limited distance," said Mr Fraser.

He added that insects, which over-winter in the soil would have been washed out, creating long-term problems.

"Nature generally has its own way of dealing with these things but this will be one of the most prolonged floods for a while.

"Those that live on dead things will initially say 'thank you very much' but after that there will be problems so these floods are as devastating to wildlife as they are to us," said Mr Fraser.

He said he hoped the way in which ground water is currently drained will be changed.

"If we can find ways of letting the land act as more of a sponge so it absorbs the water and releases it more gently it could take the peaks off the floods," he said.

"I'd like to see an end to the approach we take at the moment such as building houses on flood planes which is absolutely idiotic."