Nesting birds halt demolition work at Mansfield Brewery
Work to demolish part of the former Mansfield Brewery has been halted amid fears nesting birds have been disturbed.
The move comes after workers from a nearby office saw chicks falling out of nests when buildings on the main part of the site were being pulled down — so contacted police and demolition company the Cuddy Group.
One staff member, who did not want to be named, told Chad: "The parent birds were just distraught. There were baby birds dropping from girders. You could not mistake that there were baby birds in there. It was really distressing.
"All the babies will have died because it is just a pile of rubble now."
And another said: "It is very sad that the birds have spent so much time making nests which have been destroyed in seconds.
"It is the wrong time of year to be doing this sort of thing. A couple more weeks and most of them would have left the nest, but they are not prepared to wait.
"This is the peak breeding time for any bird and anybody with an ounce of compassion will not demolish buildings or cut down trees or hedges."
Workers say they have seen a number of birds on site, including doves, pigeons, blackbirds and sparrows.
A spokesman for the Cuddy Group said as soon as demolition workers were made aware of the problem they made the site safe and stopped work.
She said demolition work had now been put on hold at the main buildings on the site awaiting for a visit from English Nature.
Mansfield District Council was awarded funds to demolish the site from the East Midlands Development Agency and chose the Cuddy Group to carry out the work, which began a few weeks ago.
A police spokesman said a wildlife officer had noticed bird activity when he visited the brewery and told the company the demolition of that part of the site should be put on hold until the nesting season was over.
She said the officer had not been able to find evidence of birds' nests which had been destroyed so the company would not be prosecuted.
Under the Wildlife and Countryside Act it is illegal to disturb nesting birds.
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