A conservation project is looking to build on its success by taking the birds into England and Wales.

A pioneering south of Scotland conservation project is setting its sights on re-introducing golden eagles into England and Wales.

For the past six years young birds have been taken from the Highlands and released into rural parts of the Scottish Borders and Dumfries and Galloway.

The population of the birds in the area has soared from a threatened handful in 2018 to currently standing at about 50.

Dr Cat Barlow, project manager with the South of Scotland Golden Eagle Project (SSGEP), said: “We hope our next phase will be to give the eagles a hand to establish themselves in the English uplands.”