A community fishing club is behind an ambitious project to open West Yorkshire’s ‘only’ outdoor butterfly sanctuary.

Learn2Fish is building a second fishing lake with a butterfly island in the middle just yards from big industrial sites off Leeds Road at Deighton.

While Tropical World, Leeds, houses butterflies indoors, the nearest outdoor butterfly sanctuary is at Skipton, North Yorkshire.

Thanks to a number of grants and donations Learn2Fish is building a 3,000 sq m pond, at the site next to the Syngenta complex.

And chemical firm Syngenta has donated £8,000 worth of stone from a collapsed wall to help build the island.

Construction company Galliford Try transported the stone to the site.

Flora, which attracts butterflies and other pollinating insects, will be planted on the island and around the lake.

Much of the work so far has been completed by offenders serving community sentences with help from students from Kirklees College.

Learn2Fish, which teaches young people to fish, also hopes to build a dipping pond for youngsters to learn about nature – and a picnic area for families.

The organisation opened the Woodhouse Mills Nature Reserve on the former industrial site in 2013.

Butterfly island being built at Learn2Fish, Leeds Road, Deighton, Huddersfield - Steve Kelly (right) of Learn2Fish with Nick Halstead of Syngenta who provided the stone for the project and Andy Ryder of GallifordTry who transported it.

Since the site was tidied animals such as deer, badgers, newts and even grass snakes have been spotted on what was once a polluted eyesore.

Founder Steve Kelly, of Lockwood, said: “We have giant dragonflies on the site so we thought we could try to attract some butterflies.

“The air quality is good enough to put butterflies in the area.

“It’s a good thing for Syngenta because it shows they’re not polluting the surrounding area.”

Mr Kelly, who fished on the site as a boy, thanked Syngenta and Galliford Try for their help – but Learn2Fish is hoping for more donations.

He said: “You cannot put into words what this help means to a donation-funded project like ours.

“It means we can progress with our ambitious plans to create a beauty spot near the centre of Huddersfield that we hope generations to come will enjoy.”

For further details visit: www.learn2fish.ltd.uk .