Rare newts delay hotel building

Travelodge wants to find a new site for the newts

Work on a £2.3m hotel has been halted to protect a colony of rare newts.

Natural England said work on the Travelodge at Lowestoft, Suffolk, should stop to prevent the great crested newts being harmed.

Officials are assessing an application from developers for permission to move the newts to a new site. The process is expected to take about a month.

Travelodge said it was working with wildlife experts to arrange the safe removal of the newts from its site.

The newts are living close to a pond near the development and Natural England said they were in danger of being killed.

"They are on the move at this time of the year and are moving around very close to the development," said the spokesman.

'Safe removal'

"They are at risk of getting on to the site and being killed during development work."

Experts say great crested newts are Britain's largest newt species and their numbers have declined significantly during the past century.

They are a designated protected species and it is an offence to capture, kill or disturb them without official approval.

A Travelodge spokeswoman said: "We recognise the importance of preserving the local ecology in Lowestoft and are happy to be working with the Wildlife Trust to ensure the safe removal of newts from our site.

"We have experienced a delay to the building schedule but Lowestoft Travelodge is still expected to open just in time for Christmas 2008."