A wildlife haven, which we run in partnership with the Hampshire and Isle of Wight Wildlife Trust, won two environmental awards.

Our Testwood Lakes reservoir site in Hampshire was awarded the prizes in the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Business Bird Challenge 2010, which looks at the number of bird species seen on business sites.

Testwood Lakes came first in the Wetlands Sites and Water Treatment (less than 46 hectares) category, with 118 species, including bittern, red kite and whooper swan. It also won the community section for projects including creating a sensory wildlife garden and conservation.

We took part in a study with London’s City University to find out if elm saplings, developed to be resistant to Dutch elm disease, can thrive in English soil. We planted trees on our sites and monitored their progress according to the soil type and location.

Salmon are thriving in the River Itchen in Hampshire with the help of an £18 million upgrade at our Eastleigh wastewater treatment works to remove phosphates. Phosphates are found in detergents and their effect on the environment can be harmful to wildlife. The highest number of salmon since records began was recorded in the river during 2010-11.

We worked with Archaeology South-East to investigate our heritage after discovering a 20m hand-built tunnel while digging trenches for a flood protection scheme in Hastings, East Sussex.

The tunnel is believed to have been carved by smugglers in the early 18th Century and used for goods such as tea, tobacco, alcohol, silk and sugar.

Also discovered was what could have been a cannon ball and pottery from the Middle Iron Age to early Roman period.