City slickers who NEVER visit countryside

ONE in seven adults have not visited the countryside for two years or more.

A survey found 13 per cent of Britons had not gone for a rural stroll for the past 24 months or more, with some confessing to being ‘city-bound’ for even longer.

More than a third of those quizzed said they would not be able to teach their children about the great outdoors. A third also could not identify a barn owl from a photo and two thirds had no idea what a turtle dove was.

On top of that, one in five of those polled said they had never seen a toad, with one in seven saying they had never seen a hedgehog. One in three could not identify an oak. Seven in ten said they felt they had lost touch with nature, the poll of 2,000 adults found.

The study was commissioned by Jordans Cereal for the Jordans Farm Partnership, which brings together The Wildlife Trusts, LEAF (Linking Environment and Farming), The Prince’s Countryside Fund and 40 farms.