So spare a thought for those living on a quiet country lane in Southrepps, where a clan of badgers has been causing a seven-year headache.

Wellspring Road, a lane with fewer than ten homes along it, has been repeatedly closed ever since the creatures first set up a home beneath it in 2018. Wellspring Road in Southrepps (Image: Amy Mackrill/ Newsquest)

Their underground setts have destabilised the surface, leaving it unsafe for vehicles and prompting Norfolk County Council to step in.

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The road was closed for much of 2018 and 2019 until engineers installed a large pipe beneath the surface, allowing badgers to nest without disturbing the road above.

But the solution wasn’t enough to stop them from burrowing into the road again.

File photo of a wild badger (Image:........

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