Have I got 'newts' for you!

When Shane Evans was teaching his lad Josh how to fix things in an old car engine, he didn’t expect to come face-to-face with one of Britain’s protected species.

As Shane was sharing some tips with his son on his drive in Guilsfield this morning, a great crested newt popped out and gave them a fright.

While newts are amphibians, breeding in ponds during the spring and spending most of the rest of the year feeding on invertebrates in woodland, hedgerows, marshes and tussocky grassland, there is no record of them taking refuge in an old car engine!

“We popped him in a pot and took him down to the duck pond which is not too far from our house,” said partner, Jo Beaumond.

Protected in the UK under the Wildlife and Countryside Act, 1981, great crested newts tend to spend their breeding months in clear ponds while hibernating in the winter underground, among tree roots and in old walls. 

They can grow up to 17cm in length and live for up to 15 years.