SOMERSET folk are being encouraged by a garden centre in the county to support and take part in one of the biggest wildlife surveys.

Monkton Elm Garden & Pet Centre near Bridgwater is asking people to get involved with the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds’ (RSPB) Big Garden Birdwatch from January 28 until 30 and will provide spotter forms for people to take home with them.

Steve Searle, store manager at the independent family-run garden centre, said: “We think it is great that the RSPB do so much towards helping our bird population to survive and with the Big Garden Birdwatch campaign, which helps build a picture of garden wildlife across the UK. 

“This year we’re encouraging our customers to get involved by supplying them with spotter forms, which they can pick up from our reception desk and then fill out and input the results into www.rspb.org.uk. 

The campaign, which has been established since 1979, invites people of all ages across the UK to spend an hour counting birds that visit their garden.

More than 519,000 people across the UK took part in the survey in 2016 and counted 8,262,662 birds in total.

For more information visit the garden centre, call 01823 412381, or visit monktonelmgardencentre.co.uk.