Toads on the road! Volunteers prepare for amphibian migration season

A road will be closed for the next six weeks to allow toads, frogs and newts to cross to their breeding grounds.

The Charlcombe Toad Rescue Group is hoping to help more than 3,000 amphibians reach their ancestral breeding lake in the valley below.

Charlcombe Lane near Bath, Somerset, will be shut until March 25 as volunteers go out on patrol each night at dusk to help common toads, common frogs and newts on their journey.

Collectively they will spend more than 600 hours in hi-vis jackets, armed with torches and buckets walking slowly up and down the road.

Toads, frogs and newts are carefully picked up with latex-free, powder-free gloves, to avoid any chemicals from volunteer hands affecting them, and taken safely in buckets to drop off points.

In 2024, more than 50 volunteers helped 3,225 amphibians across a half-mile stretch of Charlcombe Lane.

It was the second-best year for the number of amphibians recorded and the busiest in 14 years.

Last year also saw the largest number of newts helped on record and it was the best for toads since 2013.

The annual closure has taken place each spring since 2003 with the agreement of Bath and North East Somerset Council.

It is only one of four road closures in the UK and it has played a vital role in keeping the local population of amphibians stable during the last 20 years.

Before the closure of Charlcombe Lane the casualty rate was 62% while in 2024 it was 6%.

Helen Hobbs, who has been managing Charlcombe Toad Rescue Group since 2003, said: “Closing Charlcombe Lane, with the support of the local community, has been a game changer for our amphibian population.

“It has meant that toads, frogs and newts have been able to buck national trends and stand a fighting chance of flourishing.

“With a changing climate it is becoming increasingly difficult to predict the peak times for amphibian movements, which is why closing the road for six weeks really matters.

“Last year the busiest period was early February and in 2023 it was mid-March.”

In 2016 a team of scientists used data collected by toad patrols to explore what had been happening to the population of common toads across the UK.

The research demonstrated that the common toad population had declined by 68% in just 30 years.

The biggest challenges facing amphibians include road traffic, loss of habitat, such as the disappearance of ponds, and the fragmentation of habitats due to the intensification of farming and development.

A changing climate is also adversely affecting amphibians, with milder winters leading to them waking up from hibernation more frequently.

There are more than 200 patrols across the UK helping amphibians during the migration season.