Conservative leader William Hague visited the Wetland Centre in Barnes on Tuesday.

He met the centre's director of conservation development and members of the Wetland project before touring the former Thames Water reservoir site which has been transformed into a wildlife paradise.

The centre, run by the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust, was the brainchild of founder Sir Peter Scott and is set to open in the year 2000 in accordance with his dying wish.

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