AN ANIMAL welfare group has called on St Richard’s Hospice to remove netting from a hedgerow, claiming that it endangers wildlife.

Worcestershire Vegans and Veggies raised concerns about small birds getting trapped inside the netting at the charity’s building site in Wildwood Drive, Worcester.

However, St Richard's Hospice, which looks after life-limited patients, said the material is in place to look after birds during construction work that forms part of its £5.3million expansion.

Max Burgess, a volunteer for Worcestershire Vegans and Veggies, said: “We are losing our wildlife at a terrible rate, the last thing we want to do is for birds to stop nesting or for them to get caught.

“Once they are in there I can’t see how they would ever be able to find their way back out. They would die. Birds will keep battering up against the net. I think it’s a terrible thing. We are losing our wildlife at such a rapid pace this could tip the balance.”

Miss Burgess thinks developers have started putting nets over hedgerows to avoid ecological complaints when they clear the vegetation.

She added that builders are putting netting over hedgerows around the country, warning that it could become a big problem.

A concerned resident, who shared pictures of the netting with the Worcester News, added: “It’s an ecological disaster. Netting poses massive risks to all wildlife and is damned by wildlife groups and the RSPCA. Animals get trapped inside and starve to death or can be injured and die of their wounds.”

The resident said the netting also affects bats, bees and flowers.

June Patel, St Richard’s Hospice's chief executive, said: “A condition of the planning permission for the hospice extension is that the building contractors protect the existing hedge from scaffolding and construction work. The netting offers this protection to the natural habitat and also protects birdlife by preventing nesting in the hedge whilst building work is underway. We are bound by the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 to protect birds, their nests and their eggs by law.

"The netting is open at each end to allow movement by other small animals and will be inspected twice daily to ensure no wildlife is endangered.”