Water vole populations have plunged over the last decade
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Wildlife experts are hoping that new sightings of water voles herald a comeback for the threatened population.
For years the number of the rodents, immortalised as Ratty in Wind in the Willows, has declined, and they are now almost extinct in the Cumbria area.
However, they have now been spotted in tributaries of the River Tees, miles from the nearest population pocket on the border between Cumbria and Durham.
Officials from the Cumbria Wildlife Trust say the discovery is exciting.
Water voles have come under increasing threat from a loss of habitat and the spread of non-native American mink, with the population declining by up to 90% in the past 10 years.
Ruth Dalton, from Cumbria Wildlife Trust said the new sightings were good news.
"The fact we've found them on a tributary of the Tees means it opens up a whole new area for a vast population of water voles.
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