Conservationists are involved in a race against time to save a rare plant which only grows near Ongar.

The Sickle-Leaved Hare's-Ear survives on the brink of extinction on a roadside verge of the A414 at Norton Heath.

The yellow-flowered plant first discovered there in 1831 also grew in Reigate and Wandsworth until it died out.

Now environmentalists are anxious to protect and nurture the only surviving colony of Sickle-Leaved Hare's-Ear (Bupleurum Falfactum) in Britain.

Epping Forest Countryside manager Paul Hewitt and a team of volunteers have erected a rabbit-proof fence around the Norton Heath plants in a bid to ensure their survival.

He said: "It's vital that we protect and save these plants. Rabbits were threatening them by eating the flowers and we noticed that those surrounded by thistles were untouched. The new fence will also act as a defensive barrier."

The plants' normal habitat is the Mediterranean and they only grew in the South East of England because of its warmer climate.

Botanist Thomas Corder first discovered the Hare's-Ear at Norton Heath in 1831 although it may well have been present earlier.

It grew in healthy numbers along the ditch banks and fields along the Ongar to Chelmsford turnpike road for more than a century.

Essex botanical recorder Dr Ken Adams said that road widening and subsequent burning of wood from the hedgerow seemed to have killed off the plant in the early 60s. It made a surprise but short-lived reappearance in the late 70s.

Dr Adams, a lecturer at North-East London University, added: "It's hard to believe that only one year later a fire was lit in the vicinity only to be followed by a roadside application of herbicide. No wonder it became extinct."

However the plant has since been reintroduced following the sowing of seed.

But Mr Hewitt warned: "Although it has been successfully re-established the colony is small and highly vulnerable."

They shall not pass: Paul Hewitt joins Elka Taylor and other volunteers in erecting the fence at Norton Heath.

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