Fears are growing that the public could be banned from Tice’s Meadow, which is rapidly gaining a reputation as one of the most environmentally important nature reserves in the country.

Now gravel has been extracted, owners Hanson UK has no more use for the former quarry.

There are worries the firm is hoping developers will be willing to pay big money for the site, who would use it as green space to enable them to build homes nearby.

Farnham Town Council - which wants the land to be retained as a nature reserve - has already had one bid dismissed.

Council town clerk Iain Lynch told the Herald the authority had written to Hanson offering £1 for the 136-acre site.

The council would also guarantee to pay £10,000 a year for the next 25 years – a total outlay of a quarter of a million pounds – to maintain the land.

“It was a serious offer – we would have to pick up the bill for the aftercare of the former quarry, and that maintenance we estimate would cost £10,000 a year for the next 25 years,” said Mr Lynch.

“We made that commitment because the council recognises the enormous commitment needed to establish the site as a natural conservation area.

“The town council sees it as an important natural facility that should be retained in perpetuity.”

There are worries, though, that a housing developer could step in.

Badshot Lea is expanding and a firm could offer part of Tice’s Meadow as a SANG – Suitable Alternative Natural Greenspace – as a sweetener to be allowed to build homes.

It could set aside a small area and landscape it as a public area and fence off the rest – and a valuable environmental asset could be lost forever.

Mr Lynch added: “If there were a housing development like that, Tice’s Meadow could be seen as an important green space.

“We are not worried houses could be built on the meadow – we are not sure the land is suitable for that – but it could have other uses, when we just want to see the land secured for the community.

“If Farnham Town Council was responsible for the site, we would continue to work closely with the Tice’s Meadow Bird Group which has an excellent reputation - and has won two major awards - for its conservation work.

“That would safeguard the site in perpetuity.

“At the moment there is no formal agreement in place for the bird group to continue its conservation work, or be allowed on the site.

“A new owner could simply fence off the site and stop public access.”

Mark Merryweather, a Weybourne & Badshot Lea councillor, said: ‘Hanson UK, working in partnership with dedicated local volunteers, have successfully delivered a restoration of the site into one of the best inland nature reserves in the south east, home to many rare and threatened species.

“The community is absolutely ready, willing and able to take it on. This should be about more than just money, and with Hanson’s goodwill I’m sure there’s an outcome that’s just as good if not better for them too.”