A bumper crop of fruit spells good news for wildlife in Medway – as well as for foragers and jam makers.

Experts say last year’s wet summer combined with the dry warm weather this year has led to a huge bramble harvest.

The fruitful year will benefit a host of wildlife, many of which struggled last year.

Richard Moyse, in charge of Plantlife’s Ranscombe Farm Nature Reserve in Cuxton, said: “Dormice will fatten up on blackberries, badgers love them, foxes love them, all the birds, even butterflies and hoverflies when the fruit has broken out. It’s good all round.

He added: “It’s definitely good for those, like me, who like blackberry and apple crumble.”

And it isn’t just blackberries that are thriving. Trees and hedgerows are groaning under the weight of apples, pears, plums and cherries.

People have been making the most of the bumper harvest all over the Towns – foraging at nature reserves, country parks and roadsides.

Joanne Harrell, from Joanne’s Preserves, who sells her home-made jams and chutneys at a monthly craft fair in Rainham, is among those benefitting.

She often goes foraging around Upchurch and Riverside Country Park in Rainham.

Joanne, 41, from Upchurch, said: “It is how I started making jam eight years ago as a hobby. I used to take my son out for a walk, and I would pick blackberries and experiment.

“As I got more confident, I would see other berries and look them up on the internet and start experimenting. You can get cherry plums, elderberries, rowan berries and rosehips.

“I like to bring out one or two different jams each year, so I still go out to see what I can find.

“I have noticed a bumper crop this year, especially blackberries.

“Wild fruit definitely tastes better than what you can buy in the supermarkets.”