The National Trust is poised to buy a prime headland beside the Giant's Causeway.

And it has hailed the proposed Runkerry Head land deal as helping to safeguard the Causeway setting.

Members of the conservation charity are being asked to help fund the purchase, costing more than £1m.

Runkerry Head involves two miles of coastline immediately west of the Giant's Causeway.

Also included in the planned deal are some 80 acres of agricultural land.

The National Trust has been locked in a long-term battle with developer Seymour Sweeney over land use and development in the Causeway area.

The developer, who has amassed a significant land-holding in the district, had his planning application for a new Causeway visitor centre turned down earlier this year. He is appealing the decision.

The Trust, which owns the Causeway stones, has submitted an application for its own visitor centre development.

Its move for Runkerry Head is part if its UK-wide Neptune campaign to protect coastlines.

In a circular to members seeking donations, the charity's Northern Ireland Director Hilary McGrady said: “Right now, we have the opportunity to acquire and protect Runkerry Head, immediately to the west of the World Heritage Site.

“Runkerry Head features two miles of spectacular coastline with views across to Donegal and the Hebrides, plus 82 acres of agricultural land of very high bio-diversity value.

“In addition, the headland is an integral part of the visitor experience at the Giant's Causeway. It is highly visible on the main road to the Causeway and can be seen clearly when looking west from the Giant's Causeway itself. There is a history of development and planning applications in the immediate area.

“By supporting the Neptune Campaign and enabling us to acquire Runkerry Head, you will help ensure that this superb headland is protected.”

It added: “By buying Runkerry Head, we'll not only be safeguarding the wider Causeway environment, we'll also be securing access to this most spectacular and evocative of places.

“Runkerry Head itself offers a fabulous circular two-mile walk. This will give an alternative but thrilling cliff-top route to people unable to complete the full 33 miles of the Causeway Coast Way.

“In caring for Runkerry Head, the National Trust believes we will provide a huge boost for the biodiversity of the area. By farming the land appropriately we hope to provide a suitable habitat for birds such as lapwing and twite, and possibly chough, which was once a common sight along this stretch of coast.”