A road is closing for six weeks to allow toads to cross it

A road in Bath will be shut to drivers for six weeks to help local amphibians reach their breeding grounds.

Charlcombe Lane will be closed until March 25 as toads, frogs, and newts journey across the asphalt to reach their ‘ancestral breeding grounds’.

The road has been closed each year since 2003 in cooperation with Bath and North East Somerset Council.

The Charlcombe Toad Rescue Group will also be patrolling the area to help the creatures safe as they make their journey.

An estimated 2,500 amphibians will cross the road to reach the lake below, where they will mate and reproduce.

The toads typically travel after dusk between February and March, but crossing the road can prove to be perilous.

Toad helper Helen Hobbs told the BBC: ‘In Charlcombe they often become trapped by high stone walls, so volunteers patrol each evening to move the amphibians to a safe release site to allow them to continue their journey.

‘It’s estimated that 20 tonnes of toads are killed on roads each year so our group is dedicated to doing everything we can to ensure the toad, frog and newt populations at Charlcombe survive.’

Another road in Lincolnshire also closes yearly to help amphibians reach their destination.

The lane in Sleaford often sees pairs of toads run over as the male hitches a ride on the females back – and on one day in 2013, more than 40 pairs of the toads were found dead on the road.

The Wildlife Trust Fund explained that common toads are found all over the UK: ‘
Toads are famous for their mass migrations back to their breeding ponds on the first warm, damp evenings of the year, often around St. Valentine’s Day.

‘They’re found almost everywhere, except for Scottish islands, Northern Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Isles of Scilly and most of the Channel Islands.’

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