Salisbury’s most eligible bachelors and bachelorettes have been moved to an exotic location and will meet 50 potential lifemates with hopes romance will happen.

But this is more ‘Vole Island’ than ‘Love Island’. And instead of a sun-kissed location in Spain, a dozen water voles from Salisbury have been living on a farm in Ringwood for the past five months.

The colony of water voles moved from Salisbury to Ringwood has just had a population boom with 50 new males and females moving in to make the population viable.

They swapped city life for the country before construction started on the Salisbury River Park flood defence and regeneration scheme.

Now everyone hopes they will find true love when they meet 50 new bachelors and bachelorettes that were bred in captivity.

The water vole population in Ringwood was severely affected by mink in the past - but with the mink population now in control, in time it is hoped the water voles will breed once they get past their territorial instincts.

Mike Porter of the Environment Agency said: "One of the Salisbury River Park’s aims, aside from reducing flood risk and regeneration, is to improve the environment for biodiversity.

"So it is very encouraging to see that spill over to this location where the voles are healthy and happy in their new forever home and, in time, will grow in numbers and spread afield."

Water voles are a legally protected species and also Britain’s fastest declining mammal.

A small population was found during survey work for the Salisbury River Park scheme and some had to be moved before construction.

The scheme is providing ideal habitat for water voles and it is expected that the works area will be colonised quite quickly by voles from neighbouring populations.

The Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust has been working with the private landowner on this site to improve the habitat ready for the voles. These habitat improvements will also benefit a whole range of other water meadow species in the Avon Valley, including threatened wading birds and invertebrates.

The Salisbury River Park is a £27 million transformational scheme to reduce flood risk to over 350 homes and businesses in Salisbury.

It will also create two hectares of enhanced riverside habitat for the benefit of wildlife, remove obstructions to allow fish migration to continue upstream and create 13 hectares of high quality public open space.

Construction began in July 2022 and it is expected main construction works will be completed in spring 2024.