Thurrock An attempt began yesterday to stop a patch of land described as one of the country’s top three insect homes being turned into a lorry park and warehouse.

Three senior judges at the Court of Appeal were urged to save more than 1,300 species found in grassland at the West Thurrock Marshes, Essex. Michael Fordham, QC, counsel for Buglife, the Invertebrate Conservation Trust, said that planners had overlooked a duty to protect rare wildlife when they approved development of the land.

The most important species under threat include the five-banded weevil wasp, pictured above, and the saltmarsh shortspur beetle. They are among 900 species on the site regarded as having nationally important populations and it is feared that they would disappear from Britain if the development went ahead.

Among the invertebrates under threat are 36 species listed in the British conservation Red Data Book. Seventeen have been identified as priority species by the Government.

The development was approved by the Thurrock Thames Gateway Development Corporation, which maintained that it had taken the effects on wildlife into consideration after assessing detailed reports and that any adverse impacts would be temporary.

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