The Desmoulin’s whorl snail is now extinct at the site they were moved to in an attempt to spare them from the development of the A34 Newbury bypass which devastated their original habitat, say conservationists.
A High Court battle over the snails, discovered living in the path of the planned bypass 10 years ago, held up the construction.
The Highways Agency promised to protect the snails by moving them but the Buglife charity says the molluscs are now extinct in the new home. Now the Highways Agency is to send an inspector to the site two miles away from the bypass as a matter of urgency.
References: The Daily Telegraph 27/07/06 page 7
