When Butterfly World Project in St Albans first opened in 2009 it was a bare patch of earth with no resident butterflies.

Less than five years later, 28 different British species have been recorded there, making it one of the best butterfly sites in the district.

This month the first Chalk Hill Blue has been recorded in the British Butterfly Garden at Butterfly World. The Chalkhill Blue is a butterfly in the family Lycaenidae.

Butterfly World is now home to the largest colony of Small Blue butterflies in Hertfordshire, which is the smallest in the UK and only survives on sites containing Kidney Vetch, a medicinal plant.

Butterflies which have so far found their way to the site include rare protected species such as Small Blue, Small Heath and White Letter Hairstreak, which have been attracted by the presence of the food plants needed for the survival of their young caterpillars.

They were considered extinct in the county for many years and the development of a substantial colony in St Albans is viewed as a great conservation success.