Red squirrels to get their own bridge to stop road deaths

A SPECIAL bridge for red squirrels will be built over a busy road to help protect the threatened species.

The National Trust has submitted plans for the 25ft-high crossing after reports of tens of squirrels being run over by cars every year.

The trust hopes the bridge above the A4080 in Llanfairpwll on the Welsh island of Anglesey will help boost numbers of the traditional British squirrel.

Iwan Ellis-roberts, of the National Trust, said: “We’re overjoyed that plans have gone through. It helps them to populate other areas.” It will link the grounds of the 18th-century Plas Newydd mansion to woodland which is home to more than 100 squirrels.

The bridge is part of a £10,000 project that includes a squirrel hide and nest boxes. The plans are small compared to the £120,000 that was spent on a squirrel bridge in the Netherlands.

It was built in 2012 to give squirrels safe passage between the Haagse forest and the town of Oosterbeek, and Clingedael park, and spans the N44 motorway. It was reported in 2016 that only five squirrels had been seen on the bridge since its construction, working out at £23,400 per squirrel.