Scores of new ponds have been created and dozens more restored to help protect unusual species such as the tadpole shrimp and the one-grooved diving beetle, the UK Environment Agency said.

The agency said 80 endangered or protected species in Britain relied on freshwater ponds for their survival, but over the last century more than half the country’s ponds have vanished, leaving amphibians, water snails, aquatic insects and plants under threat.

At the start of the 20th century there were more than one million ponds across Britain, but the number has fallen to less than 500,000.

Nature charity Pond Conservation’s million ponds project aims to reverse the century of loss of ponds and create an extensive network of healthy new freshwater pools.

As part of the ambitious scheme, the Environment Agency has this year created 184 ponds and restored a further 50 that were in poor condition.