THE management of a new café in the centre of Chippenham has promised its customers that the brown furry critters living next door by the river are actually water voles rather than water rats.

Staff at Cafe Grounded, which is located next to the river in Bath Road, have reassured their punters after some raised concerns that they were watching rats run past the terrace while eating their food.

After conducting some research, the manager said that they had been informed that the creatures were indeed the rapidly declining water vole and that they posed no threat to the business.

“We have noticed a few friendly water voles on the banks of the river; they are nothing to be concerned about and it is great that Chippenham is home to such a large variety of wildlife,” Katie Taylor, of Cafe Grounded said.

The sightings of the water voles are being celebrated by local conservation groups as the creature is the fastest declining wild mammal in the country.

They can easily be distinguished from rats by their chestnut-brown fur, rounded noses and ears and their furry tails.

“If water voles have been spotted in Chippenham that is an absolutely great sign,” Harriet Alvis of the Bristol Avon Rivers Trust said. “Over recent decades their numbers have dropped substantially due to the introduction of the non-native American mink, but also due to the loss of bankside habitat through the modification of the riverbanks that they live in with solid walls and the degradation of banks by cattle.

“However, due to the work of many different conservation groups, including the Rivers Trusts, they are making a comeback. BART have spotted them in a few places around Chippenham, including most recently in the centre of Calne.

“On the other hand, rats are very common in the area, largely due to the amount of bread that is thrown into the river to feed the ducks.”