About £200,000 has been spent buying areas of farmland around the Exe Estuary, near Exeter.

The reserve is one of the UK's most important for birds, visited by large numbers of rare species.

The acquisition of the farmland means the site, which is owned by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB), now covers 170 hectares.

New hedgerows will encourage cirl buntings

The new land will be managed particularly for the rare lapwing.

"This is one of the most important bits of land we have bought in recent years," said Peter Exley from the RSPB.

"Local people will be able to see things like lapwings and cirl buntings and it will also be a draw for people from across the South West."

Most of the cash for buying the land has come from Heritage Lottery money.