SHROPSHIRE STAR (UK) 19 June 07 Newts stop fire crew training (Dave West)
Firefighters are facing lengthy trips away from their base after the surprise arrival of a protected creature.
Crews at Telford Central fire station use a pond at the station to practise pumping water. But a family of protected great crested newts have moved in, forcing firefighters to look elsewhere to practise.
Leading firefighter Craig Jackson said they will have to go to rivers or lakes away from the Stafford Park headquarters.
It is a criminal offence to harm the newts and their habitats - a problem often holding up new developments as builders have to leave the site or put together a costly plan to move each one.
At the Telford Millennium Community, Ketley, hundreds were caught by a network of fences and buckets and moved to protected nature areas.
Mr Jackson said their appearance in the fire station pond meant training sessions had to move further afield.
There had also been plans to fill the pond in to improve the yard area, which will now have to be put on hold.
He said: “We used it to practice for when we need to pump water out of rivers or lakes. Because it’s been there so long it’s got a lot of weeds and growth around it.
“One day they were pumping out of it and we saw the newts coming to the surface. One of my colleagues saw it was a great crested. We have written to Natural England for advice on what to do about it.
“We have had to cordon it off and stop using it. We just have to go elsewhere for the pumping.
“The pit was originally there for training on road traffic collisions - we would put smashed cars in it. Then over the years it filled up with water so we started doing pumping there.”
A controversial scheme to build 20 homes at Montgomery Way near Shrewsbury’s Territorial Army base has also faced problems with a colony of newts.
At a multi-million pound project to stabilise the Ironbridge Gorge at The Lloyds, special fencing has been put up to stop any great crested newts, believed to be living nearby, from getting into the site.
Some 5km of fencing was put up at the Millennium Community site, where 700 homes are being built, and caught more than 900 newts. The species is relatively common in the UK but threatened in several other European countries.
Newts stop fire crew training