Why did the toad cross the road?

Why did the toad cross the road? To get to the other side of course.

But it's no joke as a road in Somerset will have to close for six weeks to help over 3,000 amphibians cross the road.

The amphibians including toads, frogs and newts need to make the journey to reach their breeding lake.

Volunteers from the Charlcombe Toad Rescue Group will be on hand to help with the crossing.

Volunteers work through the night to help the toads on there journey

This annual road closure has been in place since 2003, and has significantly reduced amphibians being hurt- from 62% before the closure to just 6% in 2024.

Volunteers will collectively spend more than 600 hours in hi-vis jackets walking up and down the road to help.

Armed with torches and buckets, as well as latex-free, powder-free gloves, volunteers will be able to carefully pick up the toads, frogs and news and drop them off at their destination.

In 2024, the same road closure and 50 volunteers helped 3,225 amphibians.

Last year the road closure helped 3,225 amphibians including newts like this one

This road closure is one of four road closures in the UK for helping the local population of amphibians.

In 2016, research found that the common toad population had declined by 68% in just 30 years.

Amphibians like toads face challenges such as road traffic, and loss of habitat due to building work.

Schemes like this are helping them have a fighting chance.