WORK to improve safety at a road junction on the A64 has brought with it an unusual spin-off for a local gin producer.

Over the past seven months, Highways England has been carrying out a major junction improvement at Barton Hill near York.

As part of the £2.8m project, which completed on Friday, some sections of the hedgerow and a number of trees had to be removed.

In a bid to find an ecological solution, the national agency and its contractor A-one+ contacted the owners of Sloemotion, Jonathan and Julian Curtoys, who create sloe gin and other hedgerow fruit liqueurs from nearby Barton-le-Willows.

Highways England project manager Russell Mclean said he saved as much of the hedgerow as possible but sections of the hedge had to be removed.

“The sloe berries used to produce the gin grow on hedgerows, so it seemed like the perfect solution to donate the hedge to this local sloe gin producing firm,” he said.

“We were able to reduce the amount hedgerow we needed to remove by altering some of the scheme’s drainage and this work will also help to prevent flooding in the area.

“Some logs from the trees were also donated to Castle Howard stately home to be used as chippings in the ground.”

Cabinetmaker and artist Mark Bennett, of The Woodlark in Malton, was also brought on board.

He will be taking part of an oak tree which was removed from the site and transforming it into a bar for Sloemotion. The remainder of the tree will be used to create bat and bird boxes, which will be placed near to the A64.

Mark will also be using some of the removed hedgerows to create innovative displays for the gin company’s products and stone from an old water culvert - which had to be removed during the work - will be used to adorn the company’s new buildings near Barton-le-Willows. Replacement hedgerows will be planted along the A64 later this year.

Work carried out to the junction involved converting the existing crossroads to a staggered junction, extending a culvert to allow the carriageway to be widened, constructing 200m of new road and realigning 600m of the A64. A bus stop, an emergency telephone and a pedestrian crossing were also relocated and an otter fence was upgraded and extended to prevent otters crossing onto the A64. An old milepost was also reinstalled.

Jonathan Curtoys, managing director of Sloemotion, said the junction improvements will benefit his employees who use the junction.

He said: “The changes will certainly have a positive benefit for drivers but then to also donating the hedgerow, the stones and timber to local businesses it feels like something is being given back to the community. I commend Highways England and A-one+ for this - it has been a pleasure working with them over the last seven months.”