Hedgehog safety plea for new housing estates

The mammals need safe areas to roam away from traffic, councillor Jo Hindle-Taylor said

All new housing estates should come with "hedgehog highways" to reduce the number of the creatures killed on the roads, a councillor has said.

Lacashire councillor Jo Hindle-Taylor said she was disturbed by the hedgehogs she had recently seen dead in the street.

The highways ensure there are gaps between garden fences so the reclusive mammals can wander away from traffic.

"They're out there and they need our help," Ms Hindle-Taylor said.

She is working with South Ribble Borough Council to investigate whether it is possible to make the creation of the highways a condition of granting planning permission for new developments.

'Fun to watch'

Ms Hindle-Taylor, who represents the St. Ambrose ward in Leyland, said she had installed a protected passageway for hedgehogs in her own back garden - and was almost immediately rewarded for her efforts.

"My fence has a solid concrete base and so a neighbour drilled a hole in it for me," she explained.

"The very next evening, when I went outside, there was a hedgehog.

"If there are no gaps or holes in fences, then that results in limited movement and isolated hedgehog populations - they need to be able to roam in order to find food, water, mates and a nesting site.

"A gap or hole in the fence gives them a safe green corridor, so they hopefully won't go near roads and not as many of them will get killed. It's also nice to see them in your garden, they're fun to watch."

The annual hedgehog survey co-ordinated by the Wildlife Trust for Lancashire, Manchester and North Merseyside last year found that more of the mammals were spotted in Preston than anywhere else in the North West - with almost 500 sightings.

Nationally, it was estimated in 2018 that the total hedgehog population stands at 879,000, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

However, they are officially classed as vulnerable to extinction in the UK and were added to the "red list" of Britain's under-threat mammals three years ago.