The first phase of turning Penns B field into sports pitches is set to start, including enhancing the natural habitat of the hedges around it.

The work will see the modification of the existing grass field to pitch quality for Petersfield Rugby Football Club.

A club spokesman said: “It will take place over several months to ensure the local habitat is not disturbed and the best planting arrangements are met, with the works expected to finish in September.”

From Monday, January 16, onward Petersfield Town Council grounds team will begin the process of hedge maintenance, making the most of the winter months when birds aren’t nesting.

They will coppice the hedge and remove the dead growth where needed.

Any gaps will be filled as part of a 10-year plan for native fruit bearing trees to improve hedge habitat.

As part of the works 18 dormouse nesting boxes will be put in the hedgerows along with reptile hibernacula (underground chambers that amphibians and reptiles use in winter to protect themselves from the cold), bug hotels and a barn owl box.

Providing additional habitat for wildlife including invertebrates, reptiles, amphibians and small mammals, will be log piles on the hedgerow edges.

And in the designated nature conservation area of the field a wild flower grassland will be created to attract pollinators such as bees.