A NATURE-LOVING couple have donned high-visibility jackets to provide a vital road crossing service for migrating toads.

Rachel Bignell and Nikolay Sirotinin hopped to it after they noticed the amphibians trying to cross Pittington Lane on the outskirts of Durham City more than a week ago.

Since then they have safely guided more than 50 toads – and a frog – across the busy road.

And they have appealed for motorists to cut their speed after seeing a number squashed before their eyes.

“We were driving past a week and a half ago when we noticed one toad crossing the road,” said Ms Bignell “We stopped and realised there were more that needed to cross the road.

“They have been hibernating in the fields and have been crossing the road to spawn in the ponds they came from – probably at Ramside Hall Golf Course.”

She added: “Hundreds of toads are killed crossing roads in Britain every year.

“Toads do not hop like frogs. They tend to crawl along. Cars come along the road at 60mph and they do not stand a chance.”

Ms Bignell, who volunteered as a toad toad crossing attendant in Derbyshire, where she grew up, contacted froglife.org for help in setting up the Pittington Lane crossing.

The couple of Gilesgate, Durham, had to apply for insurance, as well.

She said: “They come across in ones and twos. We wait for them to reach the verge of the road and then put them in a bucket and carry them across.

“We have helped about 50 get across so far and would expect them to keep crossing for about another couple of weeks.”

She added: “If we miss them and they get into the road, sometimes we cannot get to them in time.

“It is heartbreaking to see them get run over.

“Some drivers are nice and go around them, but others see them and just drive over them. If drivers could just slow down. They do not have to do a massive swerve either.

Just make sure their wheels do not go over the toad.”