A FIGHT is on to save an ancient Hampshire village pond from being choked to death by rampaging weeds.

Sobert Heath Pond, which is at least 200 years old, is slowly being swamped by parrot-feather weed and Australian swamp stonecrop, members of the Pond in Crisis project were told at a recent meeting in the village hall.

Now attempts are being made to tackle the problem and an understanding of the ecology of the pond is being built up.

Local schoolchildren and residents are taking part in the project, collecting data and carrying out experiments.

The pond is regarded as special to residents of Soberton and Soberton Heath and is thought to have been used to provide water for animals grazing on Soberton Heath.

But native plants are being killed by the encroaching weeds, making the water uninhabitable for animal life.

It is thought to have been made in a natural hollow rather than fed from an underground stream. The project has been granted money from the Royal Society/British Association Millennium Award, which provides funding for local ecology.

Ways of destroying the weeds which spread uncontrollably in the wild, include freezing the pond with liquid nitrogen, which is very expensive.

So far, 75 species of plant have been recorded. But the encroaching weeds could be the reason for a decreasing toad population, says Hill Head ecologist Dr Richard Osmond.

"These plants are foreign imports that have escaped from garden ponds,'' he said.

"In the wild they spread uncontrollably and they quickly cover the entire surface of a pond, killing off the native plants and making the water uninhabitable for much of the pond's animal life, including fish, tadpoles and the young stages of dragonflies."

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