Two new nature reserves in south Oxfordshire could soon have official recognition.

South Oxfordshire District Council's cabinet is being urged by the Chiltern Society and Watlington parish council to declare Ewelme watercress beds and Watlington chalkpits as official local nature reserves.

The first local nature reserve in the district was Cuttle Brook in Thame.

The cabinet is unlikely to oppose the moves which will give the areas protection from development and allow them to apply for funds to make them attractrive to the general public. The watercress beds, where Henry VIII reputedly got his supplies, are owned and managed by the Chiltern Society and are already designated a county wildlife site.

A colony of water voles, an endangered species, recently settled there.

There is a management plan under way to restore the beds and make them even more important in nature conservation terms.

Watlington chalkpit is owned by the district council and leased to the parish council.

It is already an officially declared site of special scientific interest because of its chalk grasslands.

The Northmoor Trust is setting up a management plan to maintain and enhance the site, though achieving local nature reserve designation would make the area eligible for fresh grants.

The cabinet will decide the issue early in January.