Signs to help frogs and toads cross road safely (From Tewkesbury Admag)

Signs to help frogs and toads cross road safely

FROGS are being decimated in Brailes due to the combined forces of weather, the environment and cars.

The situation is so bad this year that very few frogs are managing to make it to the Old Brickyard Pond in the village.

Brailes Parish Council has proposed buying special warning signs to alert drivers on Castle Hill that frogs are crossing at this time of year.

But Councillor Barbara Manley said this may have to be postponed until next year as there were so few frogs around.

"We have had so many killed in previous years crossing the road to the pond that the council wanted to do something. Normally there are hundreds of them but this year numbers are down terribly. The weather has been very dry and sadly there are very few.

"We may have to postpone the signs until next year. Also, the signs are costly and we may have to make our own and put them up ourselves.

"Usually there are so many killed on the road. I walk up the hill on a regular basis and I pick them up and carry them over.

"The council is very worried about it, we are trying to make a nature reserve at the old brickworks."

One village that has succeeded in cutting the annual amphibian death toll is Whichford, where frog crossing signs were installed six years ago.

Parish councillor Hilary Worsley said the signs, then supplied free by the Highways Agency, saved hundreds of frogs and toads every year.

"When people would walk around on a wet night the road used to be in an awful state with all the squashed bodies," said Cllr Worsley. "The signs made a huge difference. I just go out during the season and uncover them so drivers are made aware that frogs are on the road."

The village has three signs to help the frogs get to the lakes in the centre of the village.