A village in Oxfordshire fearful of the housing of asylum seekers in the area could be saved by the potential presence of a protected newt.
Newts could save the day… (Image: Getty)
Residents of a village that voted to break away from the UK in a symbolic protest against the potential housing of 1,257 illegal immigrants could be saved by a newt.
The development comes just a day after residents of Piddington, Oxfordshire, voted to secede from the UK in objection to the site.
Now new reporting has revealed that the Home Office may have made a catastrophic blunder by saying that there was no evidence of protected animals at the site.
Campaigners in the sleepy village say that mandarins will need to redo their ecological assessment of the site, and introduce measures to move the newts.
If they do not, the Home Office could be open to a legal challenge from locals keen on saving the protected newt species.
Claire Brenner, a resident of the village with a zoology degree, told The Telegraph: “If the Secretary of State determines this application with this materially incomplete information, that’s open to legal challenge.
“If they proceed to work on the site without a licence, then potentially it’s a wildlife crime.”
Residents voted overwhelmingly to break away from the UK in an unofficial referendum last night.
One resident even told this paper they had told the White House they wanted to become another US state.
Locals fear that the opening of the all-male site will threaten the safety of villagers, who will be outnumbered by around four to one.
Ms Brenner told the Daily Telegraph that the Home Office ecological assessment was “not fit for purpose” as its claim that there were “no records” of at least five different types of protected wildlife around and on the site was wrong.
She claimed there was evidence of a breeding population of great crested newts on the site, which she said could be a “huge problem” for the Home Office.
They are a European protected species under the law, so that means any developer would have to halt work and conduct surveys if there is any record or evidence of their presence.
Janet Chamdal, chairman of Wrong Plan, Wrong Site, said the campaign, run by 15 volunteers, was “non-political, evidence-based and respectful for the people seeking asylum.”