The White Stork Project, launched in 2016, is reintroducing storks in East and West Sussex with birds now appearing in Surrey

A group of storks born and raised by a Sussex rewilding project have been spotted nesting in a Surrey industrial estate in what has been called a "major milestone" for the scheme.

The Knepp Estate in West Sussex has been attempting to rewild storks in south-east England since 2016, reintroducing the migrating birds into the wild in the hope they will return to the UK for the first time in 600 years.

Now, a group of the birds have nested at an industrial estate near Guildford, with the hope they will rear chicks in the coming years.

Laura Vaughan-Hirsch, manager of the White Stork Project, told BBC Radio Sussex and Surrey: "We really want these birds to do well, and to spread and thrive."

She said: "This is a major milestone in the project for us.

"These birds are young and typically start breeding at four years old. We think they are putting up a practice nest.

"This winter they will likely migrate and go off again, and next spring they will try and rear chicks on that nest."

Knepp's rewilding project aims to reintroduce storks to the UK for the first time since the 1500s.

Birds in the current group in Guildford have migrated as far as North Africa in the past. Eight of the 10 birds are from the project, but two have no rings on them, meaning they have come from the wild.

Stephen Casson, chair of the Surrey Bird Club, said: "We have to queue up to have a look at the nest.

"They are spreading their wings all over the South East."

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