A FAMILY of badgers has been given a new home to keep them safe from traffic.

Road builders created and installed an artificial sett when it was discovered the badgers' original home lay in the path of a planned dual carriageway.

The move followed a wildlife impact survey by civil engineering consultants WS Atkins ahead of work to widen two stretches of the A66 between Scotch Corner and Greta Bridge, in County Durham, to dual carriageway.

A spokeswoman said: "As part of the works it has been necessary to create a new habitat so that badgers, which would have been affected by the scheme, could be relocated away from the proposed road.''

Other creatures were considered too, it has been revealed.

Part of the proposed road embankment encroached on a pond - the home of protected great crested newts.

To allow construction to take place, a newt licence was obtained from Natural England and a temporary "newt barrier" was created at the edge of the existing pond. Surveys and bottle trappings were then undertaken to ensure the area was clear of newts before work began on the road works.

Mammal ledges were constructed in culverts and under bridges which carried the new road to provide safe passage for water rats and otters, while bat boxes have been attached to trees to provide additional roosting sites for bats.

The focus of animal activity has been on two stretches of single carriageway width between Scotch Corner and Carkin Moor, and Stephen Bank and Greta Bridge, about to be widened to dual carriageway.

Atkins is doing design work on a £22m project for Balfour Beatty to tackle accident problems on the stretches of the road, where there were 22 deaths and 91 serious injuries between 1992 and 2005. The firm has commissioned archaeological investigations.

The spokeswoman for Atkins said: "We have faced some challenges during the project, particularly programming pressures to allow Balfour Beatty to start site clearance activities as soon as possible and our team has excelled in delivering a cost-effective detailed design over such a short period of time."