Glasgow’s south side now has one mile of boundary fencing renewed by Network Rail.

The boundary fencing has special hedgehog friendly holes to allow the species to move around the Muirend property freely.

The special fencing follows a successful trial which was completed at Lanark station where the hedgehog holes were added leading to the bigger project at Muirend.

Holes have been cut into the bottom of close boarded timber to create ‘Hedgehog Highways’ to allow the species to freely forage and nest.

Embankments next to railways are key hedgehog habitats with a variety of vegetation cover and a number of food sources.

The new fencing aims to help increase the currently declining hedgehog population over time and help benefit the overall environment.

Sam McIlvaney, Scheme Project Manager, said “Muirend is the first site where we will be adding hedgehog holes as standard to our timber fencing renewals.

“We have already used this approach on some back-garden fencing work, but this is the first large-scale fencing renewal where we have been able to add the hedgehog holes.

“We are committed to minimising our ecological and environmental impacts and something as simple as adding holes to fences will make a positive contribution to protecting these little creatures for future generations to love.”