People have been camping in nature reserves to escape coronavirus – as the charity which manages them says the pandemic could cost it £800,000.

Kent Wildlife Trust, based in Maidstone, says a half of its staff have been furloughed and those remaining have encountered all sorts of problems from people camping out to vandalism.

KMTV speaks to Paul Hadaway from the Kent Wildlife Trust

Director of conservation Paul Hadaway told KMTV the impacts of the pandemic are a "perfect storm" for charities.

Speaking about the reserves the charity looks after, he said: "We have had everything from people camping out in the woods to escape the virus, to increased activity on sites from people going out and using them for recreation.

"For a normal situation, it would be fine and something we would encourage, but when we are trying to run a skeleton staff around our sites, when we are trying to do our best for nature and the people who use those sites, it's becoming deeply challenging."

The charity says a funding shortfall will seriously impact its ability to continue safeguarding the county's countryside.

In the short term Mr Hadaway said while the charity may not achieve its aims this year "nature is resilient" and one impact of lockdown could be more people becoming into wildlife and signing up as members.

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