PERMISSION has been granted for a gardener to transform an unused graveyard into a thriving wildlife hub.

Rebecca Twigg hopes that the currently empty St Clements churchyard will become a “secret garden” which can be used by people of all ages.

She said: “The idea is to provide an opportunity for anybody in Salisbury to come into the space and use it.

“It could be used for Tai chi or bird watching and I hope it will be able to bring the community together.”

Rebecca will also provide free workshops to schoolchildren and is hoping to get them more interested in wildlife.

The workshops will include, bird watching, making bug and bee hotels, storytelling, book reading, pest control, willow weaving and the painting of sticks and stones.

"We are lucky enough to have one of the UK's top bee specialists here in Salisbury," she said. "Stuart Roberts supports the project massively and is a great source of bee info, and we hope to have him come in to do some talks on some of the 265 species of bee (mostly harmless too) we have here in the UK."

Her interest in creating a community space started after setting-up a Facebook group that acted as a “yellow pages” for wildlife enthusiasts and her Bees Knees UK project helps to raise awareness of bees and their environment.

“All of the residents seem to think it [St Clements] is the perfect place for the garden,” she added.

“When it is described as a ‘secret garden’ it will probably not look as people expect it to. We will have wildflowers growing around the graves and boxes dotted around for bees and birds.”

It is hoped that the new garden will be completed by the end of the summer and Rebecca will be promoting it at the Fisherton Festival by giving away free wildflower seeds.

She is also aiming to secure funding to complete the project and people can get in touch via her website rebeccatwigg.com.

“You can sponsor a bird box,” she continued. “And we are looking to have corporate events where companies can pay to have a workshop making bug hotels as part of a team building exercise.

"All workshops depend totally on fund raising, so please get in touch if you would like to make a donation, or sponsor the garden, or an individual workshop.

"The basic message is the more we know, the better we can help wildlife, and the emphasis is always on the fun of it."

The plan won approval from Salisbury City Council who agreed that Rebecca could use the council owned space for the project.

Cllr Matt Dean said: “I think it is an absolutely fantastic proposal and I couldn’t think of anywhere better for it.”