By Natasha Livingstone For The Mail On Sunday

Published: 20:18 EDT, 8 October 2022 | Updated: 20:18 EDT, 8 October 2022

Welcome to hedgehog heaven – a cunningly designed backyard boulevard that's been named as Britain's biggest hedgehog street.

Otherwise known as Dale Road in the Nottinghamshire village of Keyworth, it has become a haven where the nocturnal mammals can roam free, frolic together and zig-zag from the top to the bottom of the street.

After studies showed hedgehog populations had fallen by 75 per cent in some rural communities, Jennifer Manning-Ohren, 53, took matters in hand and persuaded her neighbours to cut holes in their fences to help the creatures travel after dark.

The idea was taken up enthusiastically, and there are now 42 holes in fences connecting gardens and creating a hedgehog super-highway. Research has revealed that the social creatures are becoming isolated because man-made barriers such as fences prevent them from mixing. But the CD-sized holes let them search for food, mates and nests.

It all began during the pandemic when Ms Manning-Ohren realised hedgehogs faced their own lockdown. She told The Mail on Sunday: 'Hedgehogs are good runners and travel a mile each night, but we are stopping them doing this with our big fences.

'Hedgehogs are nocturnal so we forget about them, and that's the sad thing. We have created a social lockdown for hedgehogs without realising.'

On Dale Road in the Nottinghamshire village of Keyworth there are now 42 holes in fences connecting gardens and creating a hedgehog super-highway

Research has revealed that the social creatures are becoming isolated because man-made barriers such as fences prevent them from mixing. Pictured: a hedgehog using a fence hole 

So she founded the group Wild Things Keyworth in July 2020, and recruited neighbour Rachel Cox, 59, to be its 'Super Hedgehog Carer'.

They were joined by retired teacher Nick Ellerby, 57, who creates the holes in fences or concrete walls with a drill – and they set about persuading everyone else to get involved.

They also decided to compete for the longest hedgehog street in a contest set up by two wildlife charities. Ms Cox said: 'We had a really active WhatsApp group. Once I shared the idea of the competition, people got really competitive!'

They set to work making tunnels under fences and added little gates made from wooden pallets decorated by a local artist. Each garden is equipped with three holes and a hedgehog house so the animals can rest, as well as a feeding station and night-time camera.

The Dale Road residents set to work making tunnels under fences and added little gates made from wooden pallets decorated by a local artist (pictured)

Within hours of setting up her own garden, Ms Cox spied two hedgehogs on her camera. She said: 'It shows hedgehogs will use the gaps straight away when you give them the opportunity.'

The group won the prize for the longest hedgehog street from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society and the People's Trust for Endangered Species, which run the Hedgehog Street campaign.

To follow Keyworth's lead, drill a 13cm-wide hole in your fence, and add a house made from an old plastic box. As for leaving food out, cat food, apparently, is a favourite.

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Published by Associated Newspapers Ltd

Part of the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group