DRAGON slayer St George who celebrates his feast day on April 23 could save the endangered dragonfly, say environmentalists.

Cheshire Wildlife Trust says more than one third of these 300 million year old insects now face extinction.

The charity is urging gardeners and wildlife enthusiasts to commemorate St George by helping to save these colourful creatures.

They have issued the following tips to attract dragonflies into your garden:

- an unpolluted pond is essential but must be free of large fish which eat dragonfly larvae

- shrubs and grassland near the pond will provide shelter for dragonflies as well as good hunting ground

- pond plants with their roots in the pond and leaves in the air are required for the larvae to crawl out, dry and transform into dragonflies

Despite their common nickname of horse stinger, dragonflies do not bite.

They perform the useful function of reducing the number of mosquitoes, midges and other nuisance insects.