Long-awaited beaver enclosure delayed by flooding

Beavers, famous for building dams, are "nature's engineers" and are known for improving biodiversity

The planned reintroduction of beavers to a county after 400 years has been delayed by "extreme flooding".

It had been hoped that a £180,000 habitat for the dam building creatures in the Nene Wetlands nature reserve, near Rushden in Northamptonshire, would be completed last month.

But the local Wildlife Trust, which is working with Anglian Water to release a family of beavers into a new enclosure at Delta Pit, said it was now aiming to complete work "before Christmas".

When the work is finished, the site near Rushden Lakes shopping centre will feature a viewing platform so visitors will be able to see the animals.

The project is using metal fence posts because beavers can easily chew through wood, and mitigation measures are being put in place to restrict the animals from getting over or under the enclosure.

The animals which will live on the reserve are currently in the care of the Beaver Trust in Tayside, Scotland.

In an update shared on X, the Wildlife Trust for Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Northamptonshire said: "After installing our beaver proof fence earlier this year, we had originally signed off with the Beaver Trust in September that our fence was suitable for release, with a few minor adjustments to be made.

"However, after extreme flooding in October, we were asked by the Beaver Trust to make some larger scale amendments to the northern section of the fence - most of which is still under water."

Billboards have teased the forthcoming arrival of the beavers

It said working in wet and muddy conditions was not "fun" and had proved "tricky".

But it added that work to complete the 400m (0.25 mile) fence is due to resume this week and "we are keeping our fingers crossed for beavers before Christmas".

Fencing and other measures are being put in place to protect the beaver sanctuary