Water voles may have begun the fightback following years of conservation efforts to reverse drastic declines in populations.

The little rodents, made famous by Kenneth Grahame’s ‘Ratty’ in The Wind in The Willows have suffered catastrophic losses in recent decades, vanishing from 94 per cent of places where they once thrived.

But although conservationists are still very concerned about the creatures, the last five years have seen a upturn in their distribution by seven per cent, helped by reintroduction programmes, such as in the Yorkshire Dales.