Bird's nest halts excavation work at Bilsthorpe depot

Work to build a Nottinghamshire highways depot has been delayed after a bird built a nest on a 17-tonne digger.

The driver stopped using the machine to excavate drains at the Bilsthorpe site after he spotted a pied wagtail swooping under the vehicle.

Site manager Charles Cresswell said it would be another 15 days before the eggs hatched, the fledglings flew off and the machine could be used again.

Despite this, he said he expected the project to finish on time.

"The workmen have taken to her as they would their own pet," said Mr Cresswell.

"They have been seen chasing off the magpies and heard using industrial language at them."

In England, wild birds and their nests and eggs are protected by law.

The Royal Society for the Protection of Birds' (RSPB) Gemma Butlin said any disturbance to nesting birds was likely to result in them abandoning their eggs.

"I would like to applaud the workmen for deciding to halt work on the machine while the birds are nesting," she said.

The RSPB has received reports of birds choosing all sorts of places to lay their eggs during the breeding season.

These included under car bonnets, in school playgrounds, in hanging baskets and even in the pocket of a pair of jeans hanging on a washing line.