Somerset driver warning as badgers undermine road

The county council says it will carry out an ecological survey before deciding what to do next

Drivers are being urged to drive carefully on a road after badgers tunnelled underneath.

Somerset Council made temporary repairs to Penn Cross Lane, runs between the Somerset villages of East Coker and Pendomer, near Yeovil, after the badgers undermined its foundations.

The council said more permanent repairs to the short stretch would be made once an ecological survey was carried out.

Officials said they had to determine if the badgers were using the sett.

Under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, it is illegal to disturb, damage or destroy a badger's sett, whether deliberately or unintentionally.

A council spokesman said: "There are temporary plates covering the damage and these can safely remain in place until further information has been gathered.

"It's not clear whether the sett is live - how we proceed will be very much led by the specialist advice and guidance from the ecologist."

The road is expected be one of several "rat runs" motorists could use when the A30 West Coker Road is closed for resurfacing between late-July and early-September, rather than follow the official diversion through Crewkerne and along the A303.

Chinnock Hollow - which once served as the main short cut between Yeovil and the A30 - is now closed indefinitely after the council concluded it "could not justify" spending about £2.7m on reopening the route.