A NEW group of residents have moved into Bexhill and they have no need to worry about the cost-of-living crisis or having to wonder how they can afford the weekly shop.
Far from it, in fact, as they have been hard at work creating their own subterranean wonderland, but their peace and quiet will soon be severely disrupted.
Having done the hard work by digging an underground nirvana in Bolebrooke Road, the message is now clear and simple. They are certainly not welcome.
After delayed work finally commenced to repair significant potholes in the residential road all seemed to be going tickety boo until a group of badgers moved in and set about creating a series of tunnels in the clay beneath the tarmac.
Their work ethic proved to be remarkable as they brought their human counterparts’ efforts to a juddering halt.
Amid much head scratching, a plan has now been hatched to remove the badgers to a far more suitable safe haven which is vital as they are a protected species and must be treated as such. In effect they have to be treated with kids’ gloves.
Wildlife experts have been deployed to come up with a solution but, in a nutshell, moving the pesky critters on to pastures new is not going to be a simple task.
Badgers are by nature nocturnal and by day they like nothing more than a lengthy kip and you disturb them at your peril.
Waking a badger from a peaceful and satisfying slumber has only one outcome and that is a very angry badger.
East Sussex County Councillor Ian Hollidge, who represents Bexhill South, had dealt with a myriad of issues during his lengthy political career but he admitted that an invasion of badgers is a first.
After inspecting the damage caused by the unexpected invasion, he said: “While the public are rightly badgering us to fix the roads, we were in the process of rectifying the issue.
“Then just as we started to fill in the large sink hole in Bolebrooke Road badgers have taken advantage of our exposed clay foundation to set up home under the road.
“Of course, it is very frustrating to say the least but at present investigations are ongoing as to how best to resolve the issue.”
An East Sussex Highways spokesman said: “We are working with Natural England to confirm that badgers are living in the area.
“Badgers and their setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992 so we need to be very careful about any action we take.
“We apologise for the delay to the sinkhole repairs while these necessary investigations are carried out.”
At the time of writing, it appears the badgers are still in chill out mode as investigations continue.
Work on repairing the sink holes has, for now, grounded to a halt with no date yet announced for the resumption of the vital repairs.
How far the badgers have burrowed beneath the road surface is anyone’s guess. Has Mr badger found love beneath Bolebrooke Road? Is Mrs badger pregnant and ready to unleash a new brood?
Is Bexhill about to be taken over by badgers? They are here for sure but for how much longer remains to be seen.
