Lovell has created new homes for residents of the feathered variety as part of major housing improvement works it is carrying out across the city.

The company, which has local offices at Glasgow Business Park, has joined forces with Concern for Swifts Scotland to provide nesting boxes for swifts at a number of properties it is refurbishing for Glasgow Housing Association and Shettleston Local Housing Organisation.

Lovell began making the boxes to ensure that swifts would have places to nest after work had been carried out. Typical nesting places for the birds include under broken roof tiles, in roof space, in holes in the eaves of a building or in broken pointing - all features being repaired by Lovell at Shettleston Local Housing Organisation and other Glasgow Housing Association properties.

"We work closely with Concern for Swifts Scotland to ensure that we install boxes in areas which the birds are known to inhabit," says Lovell senior site manager Bryan Worth. "We take care to make the nesting boxes so that they fit in with the look of each house."

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Currently, Lovell has more than 20 swift nesting boxes at properties in Shettleston, Carntyne, Ruchazie, Dennistoun and Craigpark. Most recently, Lovell site manager Tom Gold and general foreman Tom Printy created and installed boxes at several properties in Fernan Street and Pettigrew Street for Shettleston Local Housing Organisation.

"We design the boxes carefully to make sure they meet the needs of the swifts," says Bryan. "For example, the entrances to each box have to be the correct size in order for the swifts to enter and leave and also to make sure that other less desirable species can't take over the boxes. We are currently creating some more nesting boxes which we will be installing at properties in North Carntyne."

"Shettleston Local Housing Organisation is delighted to be working with Lovell in creating a safe environment for "swift conservation" by the installation of nesting boxes," says Shettleston Local Housing Organisation community housing manager Jannette Rawls. "We are pleased that the nesting boxes fit in with the design of the buildings."

"The Lovell team have been brilliant in taking on this unusual dimension to housing refurbishment," says Concern for Swifts Scotland co-ordinator Clare Darlaston. "Their ability to understand what is required and to build at these swift nest sites puts them at the forefront of swift conservation. It is a real pleasure working with them."

(GK/JM)