Developer fined for destroying dormice habitat in Swanwick

A luxury property development company has been fined for destroying land that was home to rare hazel dormice.

Knightsgate Ltd hired a tree surgeon to clear land in Swanwick, Hampshire, in March 2019 despite being made aware of the dormice in an ecology report.

The firm pleaded guilty to destroying or damaging a resting place or breeding site of a European protected species.

It was fined £40,000 at Portsmouth Crown Court. The judge also made a confiscation order of £69,392.80.

The confiscation order was to reflect what Knightsgate would have had to pay had it followed the recommendations of the ecology report.

Police said they found "heavy track marks" at the site near Rookery Avenue, and that hedgerows and shrubs had been "ripped up by the roots and piled around the land".

The force added that Knightsgate paid for the work "even though they had received an ecology report which made it clear that protected species were on-site".

PC Lynn Owen, of Hampshire Constabulary, said the destruction of the habitat had been a "devastating blow to the animals".

"I hope [the fine] acts as a warning to anyone that operates in a manner that puts our vulnerable wildlife at risk that they will be dealt with robustly," she added.

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