Volunteers help Ellesmere’s toads to cross the roads

Two roads in Ellesmere will be partially closed overnight until the end of April [2022] to help toads in the  area to head back to their breeding ponds after hibernation.

From 26 February to 30 April short sections of Swan Hill and Caegoody Lane will be closed between 7pm and 5am.

Meanwhile, a local group of volunteers called Ellesmere Toad Patrol will be on site, buckets in hand, in an attempt to help the toads cross the road safely.

 Anyone who would like to volunteer for a couple of hours a week in teams of two or three is asked to visit Ellesmere Toad Patrol on Facebook.

According to ToadLife, between the end of February and mid-April, toads all over the country will come out of hibernation and begin their hazardous journey back to their spawning ponds. Common toads are declining in the UK with thousands of toads being killed on our roads every year, and they really need our help. Toads usually move after dark when the temperature is above 6°C on damp evenings.

The numbers of toads recorded in Ellesmere are the largest known populations having to make the hazardous journey across roads to reach their ancestral breeding ponds in all of Shropshire and Staffordshire.

Signs will be erected in the road and a fully signed diversion route will be in place whilst the roads are closed. Access will be provided to properties and businesses within the closures, for emergency service vehicles, and for pedestrians, dismounted cyclists and equestrians

Local drivers are asked to look out for the toad signs on roads, and to take care, slow down and look out for volunteers in the Hi-Vis jackets.

Shropshire Council and its partner Kier have provided the signage free of charge.