A renowned children’s author and illustrator has given his backing to a pioneering citizen science campaign to help the county’s hedgehogs.

Suffolk Wildlife Trust have been asking people to record their sightings of live and dead hedgehogs over the next year to help focus their future conservation efforts.

The project, a response to a dramatic decline in UK hedgehog numbers over the last decade, has already received 4,455 recordings online with another 500 taken over the phone.

Now Nick Butterworth, who has sold more than 12 million books worldwide and is famed for his Percy the Park Keeper series, has shown his support for the project by donating a guide to draw your own hedgehog.

Mr Butterworth, who has been a member of Suffolk Wildlife Trust for more than 10 years, said: “Hedgehogs! Aren’t they great? Such strange little creatures snuffling about in our gardens after dark. At least they should be. Unfortunately, they’re not nearly so common as they used to be. I’m so glad that Suffolk Wildlife Trust is championing hedgehogs. I really hope the response they receive to this campaign will help to reverse the decline in numbers.”

Suffolk Wildlife Trust communications manager Kerry Stranix added: “We were so pleased to receive Nick’s beautiful drawings and we are hoping people will have a go at drawing their own hedgehogs so we can display them in an on-line gallery. Of course we also really need people to spread the word about the hedgehog campaign and add their hedgehog sightings to our on-line map.”

It is believed hedgehog populations UK-wide have fallen by at least 30% over the last ten years due to habitat fragmentation and other factors.

To take part in the survey visit suffolkwildlifetrust.org/hedgehogs or those with no internet access can phone 01473 890089.