A MAJOR electricity company has helped secure a brighter future for Oxfordshire's barn owl population 13 years after first starting to help the species out.

Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks (SSEN) engineers replaced two owl and kestrel boxes while working on land occupied by the Standlake Common Nature Reserve last month.

The company had already made platforms for the bird boxes from poles previously used to hold up overhead lines after it buried cabling in the area near Witney in 2005.

The firm helps supply electricity to almost four million British homes and businesses, but customer community advisor for the area Chelsie Bickford insisted their environmental impact was just as important.

Ms Bickford said: “When we took part in the original undergrounding project to strengthen the surrounding area’s electricity supply, we had no idea of the benefits it would reap for the local bird population at Standlake Common Nature Reserve.

“Thirteen years on, it’s wonderful to still have a working partnership with the reserve and to be able to assist in situations like this.

"We know the original owl boxes have been used many times to raise and fledge owlets over the years and we look forward to finding out if these new boxes will provide warm and welcoming homes for future generations.”

Engineers from SSEN first set up the bird box platforms at the reserve more than a decade ago with help from the Lower Windrush Valley Project, whose volunteers manages a range of conservation initiatives throughout the area.

The platforms provide a safe environment for the birds to nest and have been successfully used by pairs of breeding barn owls to rear their young.

But the reserve's wardens faced a difficult and costly task when two boxes were in need of refurbishment earlier this year.

SSEN engineers stepped in to install new replacements and ensure greater comfort for the owls.

Lower Windrush Valley manager Lucy Kennery said: “The two original nest boxes have been used regularly over the years and had seen better days.

"We’re very grateful to SSEN for helping us install the boxes which would have been an expensive job otherwise.

"We hope that they will be used by local barn owls for many years to come.”

The latest SSEN work was part of a £15m project 'undergrounding' 90km of overhead lines in Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty, National Parks and National Scenic Areas in the north of Scotland and central southern England.

Find out more about the scheme and its benefits online at ssen.co.uk/undergrounding