Damage to major road in Mablethorpe caused by tunnelling badgers is repaired a week ahead of schedule

Seaholme Road in Mablethorpe was collapsing because of animal tunnels that had been made under both the road and the footpath.

Badgers had dug up to 1.5m deep which meant a lot of essential foundations under the road surface had gone, and the road started to fail.

Lincolnshire County Council crews had to get on with the works under an extremely tight schedule from Natural England, once the specialist ‘badger-handling’ license had been granted.

Because of the badger breeding season which runs from the start of December until the end of June, all works on filling in the tunnels, and repairing the damage to the collapsing road, had to be completed by the end of November.

If the work wasn’t finished by the end of the month, then Seaholme Road would have had to remain closed until next July.

The team carrying out the reinstatement works on-site doubled-down to complete the job before the cold weather that is forecast for next week arrived. A big drop in temperatures can slow the rate at which resurfacing works are carried out so, to be sure of hitting the end-of-November must-do deadline, Lincolnshire County Council put extra resources into the job where possible.

In total the scheme to repair the badger damage and get the road back in working order has cost around £120,000.

With another key route in and out of the town on Mile Lane closed for repairs at nights as well, it was causing chaos for local motorists.

Kiz Kurnok had told the Louth Leader that Mablethorpe was in a mess due to the multiple roadworks leaving only one main route in and out: “This is proving a nightmare for anyone that works around this area - my husband who is a local taxi driver is struggling to keep his bookings getting people to and from work,” she said. “Why would the council block two in and out routes at the same time, it just does not make sense. Something needs to be done before there is a major accident and emergency services cannot access the town.”

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council said: “It’s a huge relief to get this road reopened for the people of Mablethorpe, and to be able to do it a full five days earlier than we first thought is a real testament to the hard work of our roads team.

“We worked within Natural England’s license restrictions, and with a badger expert ecologist, to make sure that the animals came to zero harm and were successfully moved away from the site.

“We then set about excavating, rebuilding and then re-laying the road top and the footpath as quickly as we could, so that we could be sure of getting the work completed in time.

“If we hadn’t been able to, then the people of Mablethorpe would have had the road closed until next July, when Natural England would again be able to grant a license for the vital work on the damage caused by the badger sett.

“We simply couldn’t put up with that full-time closure for that long, purely because of badgers. That’s just not fair for Mablethorpe, and it was not something that our Highways team were going to let happen.

“And now our crew have done a brilliant job, and the road is open and usable again.”