Water quality 'is threat to rare plant in Derbyshire'

Poor water quality could pose a risk to one of the rarest species of plant which has been found in Derbyshire.

The Peak District is home to a square metre of Derbyshire feather moss, which is the only place in the world where this plant exists.

Cressbrook Dale, where the moss was found in 1866, is one of the top ten places in the UK for rare species, according to Natural England.

Phil Bowler, senior manager of the Derbyshire Dales National Nature Reserve, told the Daily Mail: "Water quality is the most obvious indirect threat."

He added: "Beyond that, the biggest threat is people inadvertently damaging it."

Among other locations in England which are the last refuges of some of the country's rarest species is the Durham Dales, where the Teesdale rock-rose and Teesdale sandwort have lived for 12,000 years since the Ice Age.

Avon Gorge was also named on the list as it has two trees that grow nowhere else in the world.

Posted by Lauren Steadman