Badgers' digging in Copeland costs Cumbria Council thousands

Don't blame this badger, he had nothing to do with it

Badgers burrowing under a road have cost a council thousands of pounds.

The road in Copeland, Cumbria, has been closed for a year because of a sinkhole, which investigations revealed had been caused by the animals.

The stretch of Birkby Road, near Muncaster, has collapsed several times in past years but badgers have only now been identified as a factor.

The latest repairs are expected to cost £50,000 and engineers are planning a new solution "resilient" to them.

A county council spokesman said the "most recent event has revealed significant activity in the badger sett at this location".

"Highways staff have taken the opportunity to look at a different method of repair which will see the road repaired and made more resilient to future badger activity," they said.

A sinkhole opened up on the stretch of road in December 2017

A reinforced concrete road surface will be installed over the existing carriageway to minimise disruption to the existing sett, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

Future underground activity would not affect the new road surface, the council said.

In similar circumstances in the past tunnels have been built for the badgers out of pipes.

However, Natural England has advised workers not to disturb the sett and to reinforce the surrounding road instead.

Work has been scheduled to avoid the breeding season.

Latest investigations have revealed the presence of badgers