Badgers tunneling under a road in Lincolnshire have caused £100,000 worth of damage, a council has said.

The mammals had dug up a cobblestone under the A52 at Seaholme Road in the center of Mablethorpe, according to Lincolnshire County Council.

According to a spokesman for the authority, urgent repairs will be needed on the road to prevent it from crumbling.

However, the council had to wait for a license from Natural England before it could carry out the work because badgers were a protected species, they added.

The authorities had wanted to carry out the repairs earlier, but now that the license was granted, time was running out to carry out the emergency work, according to the spokesperson.

All work on the badgers must be completed between July and the end of November so that repairs do not interfere with the badger mating season, they explained.

Councilor Richard Davies said: “In total, completing these works will cost us an additional £100,000.”

The Mablethorpe area already has road closures on the A1104 for resurfacing work, and Davies said the authority was aware of traffic flow issues in the town.

The A1104 plan cannot be stopped because it is at a critical point, he said.

“Our hands are tied in terms of scheduling these conflicting jobs,” Davies explained.

“We have no choice but to launch this additional program immediately.

“If there was another option available to us, we would take it.”

Davies added that it was “extremely frustrating that we have not been granted this license until now”.

A condition of the license issued by Natural England requires the works to be carried out under a road closure, to ensure the safety of the badgers.

The council spokesperson said the work would take place between 09:00 GMT and 16:00 GMT from Saturday 8 November to Wednesday 20 November.

Outside of those hours, a three-way traffic light system would operate so that the road could be used.

Natural England has been contacted for comment.

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