Its range has increased by more than 60 per cent in the past two decades and it looks like returning to Scotland after an absence of more than a century."The problem is the ones that are doing well are common already," said Mr Fox."On the other hand you have all these species doing very badly - and they are the ones that are much scarcer and restricted because of their habitat requirements. They tend to be confined to nature reserves."Ecological theory predicts such populations will become extinct, particularly if neighbouring patches are destroyed or become unsuitable. We are now sitting on a biodiversity time bomb."To coincide with next year's publication of the census, Butterfly Conservation is pressing for the insects to be adopted by the Government as an official wildlife indicator and measure of the state of health of the environment.The group is in talks with English Nature, the Government's environmental advisory body, to make butterflies an official barometer."The butterfly gives you a good idea of subtle changes in the environment," said Mr Fox.Butterfly Conservation can be contacted at PO Box 222, Dedham, Colchester, CO7 6EY (tel: 01206 322342).. It is a burning issue. It is smouldering away in the home of Charles Moore, the editor of the Daily Telegraph, and smoke has been seen rising from the country residence of his neighbour and Sunday Telegraph colleague, Dominic Lawson It is a burning issue. It is smouldering away in the home of Charles Moore, the editor of the Daily Telegraph, and smoke has been seen rising from the country residence of his neighbour and Sunday Telegraph colleague, Dominic Lawson. If you are going to build a giant waste incinerator, it is wise not to put it in the back yard of two national newspaper editors, but that is what East Sussex County Council is planning.The High Weald has been designated an area of outstanding natural beauty, and the 400 villagers of Mountfield are determined to keep it that way.Already alarmed at the prospect of an ugly plant complete with 300ft chimney, last week they were appalled to read that ash produced by an existing incinerator in the Byker region of Newcastle was 800 times more poisonous than the recommended safety level.

Vegetables grown on nearby allotments were considered unsafe for at least a year. With recent research from the US Environmental Protection Agency linking dioxins - highly toxic bi-products of waste incineration - to cancer, and reproductive and immune system problems, the villagers are understandably outraged.They are not the only ones. The Government's new waste strategy gives tacit support to burning refuse as a solution to the country's waste problem and has effectively opened the door to scores of new incinerators up and down the country.At Mountfield, they are gathering all the well-heeled clout they can muster. "We feel that this is a blatant case of the minority being put upon by the majority," said an aggrieved Lucinda Fraser, leader of the well-organised local anti-incinerator association, The Mountfield Heritage Group.

Working from her headquarters at Mountfield Court, overlooking the village, Mrs Fraser has already roped in some of Fleet Street's finest. "The Moores and the Lawsons have already contributed to the campaign," confirmed Mrs Fraser, who has amassed an impressive £8,000 through jumble sales and fêtes.Dominic Lawson has joined the campaign because his daughters are at Vine Hall school, close to the proposed site. "I have concerns that such a large incinerator should be considered so close to two schools."The villagers are bewildered that the council is ignoring the advice of its own environmental director, who said the plant should be built at an existing waste treatment unit between Bexhill and Hastings."They ignored the experts and opted for a smaller village community, presumably because there are fewer voters," said local photographer Giles Stokoe.. They were built to make worshippers feel closer to God. But now church spires are to bring ordinary mortals together.. on mobile phones They were built to make worshippers feel closer to God. But now church spires are to bring ordinary mortals together...