A RARE breed of lizard thought to have disappeared from Hull has been given a safe haven by pupils from a city school.
Common lizards, which were thought to have died out in the city, have been discovered near Hymers College.
The colony of lizards was discovered just over the train track by experts from the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.
The trust has a close relationship with the school in Hymers Avenue, having worked together on other wildlife projects.
Now, pupils have built a home of rocks for the lizards to hide in.
Tony Martin of the trust, said: "Despite their name, these are the only common lizards in the city as far as we know.
"We thought they had died out as no one has seen any for years.
"Years ago, many used to live where the KC Stadium is now.
"But when that got built, we lost track of them, no one saw any for years and we thought they had died out locally."
Mr Martin said he was doing a survey by the train tracks under the footbridge when a pair popped out.
He said: " It was an incredible feeling once we verified they were common lizards.
"It's great to have rediscovered them."
Hymers College headteacher David Elstone said: "Wildlife and environmental projects are really important to our school and our pupils and having the trust as a partner is wonderful.
"We were talking with Tony and he mentioned finding the lizards and we thought creating a habitat for them was the next logical project for our junior sustainability club."
The trust has worked with pupils on projects involving mini-beasts, the college's pond and designing and building nest boxes for birds.
Mr Martin said: "The new habitat is perfect for the lizards. The sun – when we get some – will be on the rocks all day so it will be nice and warm for the lizards to bask on. There are also lots of nooks and crannies for the lizards to hide in."
Head groundsman Graham Marris built the habitat with help from members of the junior sustainability club.
Lucy Jones, ten, said: "It's really good to be involved with projects like these as you feel you have really helped."
William Marshall, also ten, said: "Projects like these are really good because they get us thinking about wildlife and the environment around us."
