WILDLIFE experts are celebrating the use of a new method to protect reptiles while during the ongoing Spur Road redevelopment.

Ecologists at Dorset County Council have been working closely with Natural England to construct a new way of working to improve their habitat.

Organisations must apply for a license from Natural England to install reptile fencing and move the creatures by hand before starting any disruptive and lengthy work as they are protected by UK and European law.

The new method works by making the verges look unattractive as a habitat while enhancing other areas further from the roadworks to make the reptiles move on their own.

Annabel King, Dorset County Council senior ecologist, said: "The Sand Lizard and Smooth Snake are very rare in the UK but they happen to be common in Dorset and are known to live in the verges of the A338.

"It was really important that we encouraged the reptiles to move before construction started and that the verges are kept unattractive throughout the road reconstruction.

"Since January we’ve very carefully degraded the vegetation on the verges to get the reptiles to resettle in better quality habitat we’ve created in the nearby heathland."

Around 102km2 - the same size as 15 AFC Bournemouth football pitches - of vegetation has been cleared along the length of the Spur Road seeing gorse, scrub and bracken stripped back.

The old reptile fence has been removed, tress felled and verges flailed to the back of the drainage ditches to keep reptiles away.

Around 23 hectares of nearby heathland has seen new sand patches created to entice them away from the A338 road side.

Cllr Peter Finney, cabinet member for environment, said: "Most drivers will remember the work in 2010 to install reptile fencing – when funding was anticipated for the A338 rebuild – and the disruption it caused, so can appreciate why we needed to find a new approach to move reptiles away from our construction area.

"We’re incredibly proud of our natural environment in Dorset and we strive to find new ways to work alongside our many protected areas and species, and enhance it – even when we are doing something as destructive as rebuilding a road."