'It can make you feel a bit emotional': Bath road closed for amphibians sees record numbers cross

A record number of toads have crossed a road in Bath this week, with 500 making the journey on Valentine's Day.

Every year, the amphibians, along with their frog and newt pals, traverse Charlcombe Lane on their way to Charlcombe Lake for the breeding season.

There is usually a surge in numbers during March when the weather turns milder, but the recent higher temperatures and rainfall have seen them moving earlier than usual.

Charlcombe Lane closed to all traffic except residents on Monday 12 February and will remain shut until 25 March.

Mike Collins, 50, from Fairfield Park has been a toad warden for the last three years and said around 1,000 individuals had crossed the road this week alone.

He said: "When you see them there on the tarmac and you know that a car could come along at any minute and flatten them, they look so vulnerable.

"Like a lot of the natural world at the moment, they are under threat. Like hedgehogs, common toads have declined over the last ten years.

"It can make you feel a bit emotional. Last night, you could hear owls hooting and you could see the stars, and you sort of lose track of time."

The Charlcombe Toad Rescue group has around 50 volunteers, who operate on a rota starting at 6pm and working up until 1am.

"We go up and down the lane three or four times using a swishing motion with the torch to spot any stragglers.

"Some of these amphibians come from two or three miles away, which - for a person - is probably the equivalent of walking from Bristol to London," Mike said.

He reckons the group helped around 2,400 amphibians last year and roughly 50,000 over the last 20 years.