Little Hadham bypass: Road project sees 500 snails rehomed Published duration 3 October 2019

image copyright NurPhoto/Getty Images image caption Roman snails are edible and desired for the restaurant trade

More than 500 snails have been rehomed as part of a £40m bypass project.

The molluscs have been moved from the land at Little Hadham, in Hertfordshire, where the A120 bypass is being constructed.

The 3.9km road will run north of the village from Bishop's Stortford to the Tile Kiln roundabout.

Hertfordshire County Council confirmed it had moved the protected snails from the path of the bypass to a new home "nearby".

A council spokesman said: "They're a protected species so we have to make sure we move them to a suitable new habitat."

The slimy creatures are Roman snails, Helix pomatia, which are a common species of edible land snail.

image copyright Hertfordshire County Council image caption The snails were collected by hand

It is a protected species in England under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, but not in the rest of the UK.

The snails were collected by ecologists and relocated to a specially-planted wildflower meadow next to the bypass, the council said.

The bypass plan, which is scheduled to be completed in 2020/21, will also provide flood alleviation for the village of Little Hadham.