Great Yarmouth: Vole delays opening of £121m bridge

A potential burrow was discovered close to where the third river crossing is being built.

The opening of a £121m bridge in Great Yarmouth has been delayed by a vole, Norfolk County Council has said.

Builders found a potential burrow close to where the third river crossing is being built and work was temporarily halted.

Voles are protected by law, under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, and it is an offence to kill, injure or take them.

The council said it expected the Herring Bridge to open in September.

The large infrastructure project previously faced delays in February when a 250kg (551lb) World War Two bomb was discovered by construction workers during dredging work.

The bomb detonated a few days later when attempts were made to defuse it. No-one was injured.

A Second World War bomb exploded close to the third crossing construction site in February

Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure, told a council meeting on Tuesday: "The bridge was obviously held up by a couple of things that went on.

"One is obviously a bomb, and that held things up for at least 10 days because things had to be reinstituted after that.

"And believe it or not we had a visit from a vole, which are more highly protected than bats, and we had to find him a new home before work could continue.

"So unfortunately there's about two or three weeks it was held back."

The Herring Bridge is expected to open by autumn

He said he expected the bridge to open and start operating in September.

A Norfolk County Council spokesperson said: "We have always been aware of the presence of voles around the site perimeter and have managed our work in accordance with the relevant legislation.

"A potential burrow was recently identified in a new area close to where we were working so we took measures to protect it by creating an exclusion zone and called in ecological experts but no voles were found and no further action was required."

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