Rare birds living on south Devon farmland could be under serious threat unless new protection schemes are introduced, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) has warned.

The rare stone-curlew has thrived on farmland called set-aside, which has also helped declining cirl buntings, skylarks, yellowhammers, lapwings and barn owls.

Set-aside - land on which wheat, barley and other food crops cannot be grown - will be scrapped next year but the government has no plans to put in place new measures.

Environment Secretary Hilary Benn will today consider conservationists' pleas for replacement measures.

But the RSPB fears he will choose to ignore them.

Dr Sue Armstrong Brown, the RSPB's head of countryside conservation, said: "The loss of set-aside with no replacement is about the worst thing that could happen to stone-curlews and other farmland birds, at the worst possible time.

"More than a quarter of stone-curlew chicks are raised on set-aside and far more skylarks nest on set-aside than on fields with crops. In winter, set-aside becomes a giant bird table for many species including skylarks, corn buntings and linnets.

"All of these birds have government action plans to boost their numbers but none are likely to hit recovery targets if set-aside goes unless its benefits are reproduced by other means.

"Set-aside was never intended as a conservation measure but has turned out to be a boon for wildlife. When gains like these are so few and far between, we cannot afford to dismiss them so easily."