WORK has finally begun on a long awaited £14m police headquarters after a special fence was erected to save protected newts from the bulldozer’s claw.

Durham Police’s new HQ was delayed by several months after great crested newts, one of the most heavily protected creatures in the UK, were found near the Aykley Heads site, in Durham City.

Amid fears the amphibians might stray onto the building site, Natural England, the guardian of the country’s natural environment, refused to grant a great crested newt development licence until the force agreed to install Temporary Amphibian Fencing, low-level plastic sheeting buried in the ground and supported by posts.

It is thought the delay has cost the police more than £300,000.

However, the fence has now been erected, the site has been handed over to contractors Kier North-East and Scotland and work is underway.

Gary Ridley, Durham Police’s assistant chief officer, said: “The force is delighted that work has commenced on the new headquarters site.

“The savings made from the move to the new headquarters will enable the force to continue with its high levels of service delivery to the people of Durham and Darlington.”

The police say their current 1960s-built HQ, just yards away, is no longer fit for purpose and its successor will be £2,000 a day cheaper to run and pay for itself within 20 years.

It will have air source heat pumps and solar panels, recycle rain water and be built to the highest environmental standards.

It is believed there are between two and ten newts at a site a few hundred yards away, near the East Coast Main Line.

An alternative grassland habitat, including log pile “newt houses”, will be created and the newts will be moved there when they come out of hibernation in the coming weeks.

The new HQ, a three-storey, 5,500sq metre facility, is expected to be ready in spring 2014. The current HQ is to be demolished to make way for 230 homes.