Campaign group founders Jess and Jody Shaw (Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)

The campaign group which tried to buy up a patch of ancient woodland for a Herefordshire town has said their crowdfunded bid has been unsuccessful.

Merrivale Wood Conservation Group (MWCG) had tried to raise £100,000 online in a matter of days to buy the wood south of Ross-on-Wye from Herefordshire Wildlife Trust (HWT), which said it wanted to focus its limited resources on larger and better-connected sites.

"We had a phone call with HWT and despite this disappointing news, we have been informed the buyer is local and shares our values of conservation and community, demonstrated through existing projects they are involved with," a statement from the group's founders Jess and Jody Shaw said.

"We

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