Pesky Badgers: "Ye'll Not Pass"

Work to reopen the main road between Langholm and Lockerbie (in England, if you have any doubts after reading further) have been delayed by badgers.

The B7068 was closed before Christmas after a landslide at Scroggs Bridge and lengthy diversions put in place. A council spokesman confirmed that work had ground to halt after a network of badger tunnels (called a "sett") was found under the route of the works.

Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell has voiced concerns that a project which should have taken weeks has now been ongoing for nearly six months. Works were forced to stop when the animals' underground home was discovered.

Work is underway to construct a man-made set of tunnels nearby, and coax the badgers to relocate willingly. The road closure was initially estimated at a few weeks, but it has now been months and there is no end in sight. "Until such time as it is deemed that all badger cubs have left the existing sett, we cannot excavate anywhere near where they live," confirmed local services group manager Ronnie Dempster.

If you must read more about this nonsense, check out the BBC story for more details.