A 'live' sett of Badgers in Niton has meant temporary traffic lights have had to be installed for 'safety reasons'.
According to Island Roads, an active sett of badgers was discovered under the carriageway on Newport Road.
To investigate the discovery further, a licence needs to be obtained, which Island Roads says could take as long as July.
As exclusively reported by Isle of Wight Radio, a decade long campaign for badger signs on the Isle of Wight, failed to see them installed.
That is despite the Badger Trust’s campaign for warning signs gathering support from the Island’s MP Bob Seely, Island Roads and the Isle of Wight Council.
The Bader Trust promised to fund the signage and Island Roads pledged to install it under its volunteer scheme - at no cost.
But the Department of Transport refused the offer.
A spokesperson for the DfT told Isle of Wight Radio:
‘Protecting this country’s wildlife, particularly those small animals often hit by cars, is very important to us... It is for the local authority to decide and apply to use the small wild mammal warning sign’.
However, the ‘mammal warning sign depicts a hedgehog - not a badger.
When the Isle of Wight Council had control of the roads, badger warning signs were installed in Shorewell, Limerstone, Chessell and Niton.
Calls to install badger signs were partially due to the cost of removing badger carcases.
As Isle of Wight Radio exclusively revealed, badger roadkills here have cost more than £100,000 from 2011-2019.
In 2019 alone, £14,200 was spent disposing of the carcases - prompting renewed calls for the bespoke signage.
A spokesperson for Island Roads told Isle of Wight Radio:
'Temporary traffic lights are in place on the Niton-bound lane of this section of Newport Road for safety reasons because an active badger sett has been found under the carriageway.
'As this is a live sett, we are unable to investigate further until we have obtained a licence from Natural England. We are working closely with a local ecologist to help us progress this licence but because of legislation, it will not be granted before July 1.
'Once we have undertaken an investigation we will be better able to determine what we can do to fully re-open the highway.
'Residents can be assured that all this work will be undertaken under the supervision of our wildlife expert and in compliance with the laws that exist to rightly protect badgers.'
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