Volunteers from Macclesfield are travelling as much as 14 miles to help keep toads safe on the road.

Alsager town councillor Jane Smith co-ordinates Smallwood Toad Patrols, in the Cheshire East village near Sandbach.

Jane set about starting a toad patrol to help them safely across any roads when they are on their journey to final their natal pond.

Four years after she set it up, there are more than 40 volunteers, ranging from eight years of age to 73 from, from as far away as Macclesfield and Stoke-on-Trent.

And while the patrol doesn't take place in Macclesfield, it is an idea that could easily come to our town, as the climate crisis re-assesses our role with nature.

The amphibian safety programme starts at, dusk when a group of volunteers are pulling on their boots, gloves and Hi-Viz jackets, picking up their buckets and fishing nets and heading for the country lanes.

The weather is mild, between 6C and 11 C and the roads are wet as it's just rained but that doesn't matter for these are the perfect conditions for the annual toad mating season and the volunteers are ready.

A roadside sign in Smallwood near Sandbach and Lawton Heath near Alsager warns motorists that this is "toad" country, urging them to slow down and be mindful of the creatures wanting to pass the road.

But it doesn't matter – for should the motorists not spot the cute toad road signs and other makeshift signs dotted around the band of more than 40 toad patrollers will be there to guide the little chaps to safety.

Alsager Town councillor Jane Smith decided to set it up when she was out walking her dogs one day and spotted many dead toads in the road.

Jane, who is the Deputy Leader of the Animal Welfare party, occasionally speaks in Macc. "At first I didn't know what they were but when I asked around I realised they were toads and discovered they were making their way to the ponds where they born to mate," she said. "We take it in turns to patrol. We can have very busy nights when we have hundreds then others when we have hardly any. "You can't judge but the temperature has to be right although they don't mind storm weather as it puts off flying predators." Toads are round four years' old when they are mature enough to mate and they always go back to the pond or water where they were born, sometimes a journey of around four km. "It's so clever. No one knows why they do this but they do," added Cllr Smith who will soon be launching a recruitment drive for even more volunteers from across Cheshire East. The Smallwood patrol volunteers work in Cherry Lane, Alsager and Lawton Heath and Brookhouse Lane, Moss End Lane, Pitcher Lane, Mill Lane and Back Lane in Smallwood. There is hopes they could expand their reach with more volunteers. Last year, their "record" night of helping toads across the road to safety was late March. In total, they helped 820 toads across the roads last year during their patrols which begin at the end of February until mid-April. "As well as patrolling we also put temporary mesh covers on local grids and we have school speakers happy to spread the love for toads," says Jane. "We managed to get road works rescheduled at Mill Lane, saving hundreds if not thousands of toads' lives," Jane also said. For more information about the group and how to volunteer, please click here. You can also contact Jane on Twitter. See also: World-renowned Macclesfield water bar wants you to 'reuse not recycle' in 2022. Macclesfield: Have you signed up for our FREE Friday weekly newsletter? It contains each week's top 10 Macclesfield news stories, and one EXCLUSIVE article? 1100 of you have signed up already. Simply enter your email address in the shaded box below or on this link. Free from pop-up ads, or unwanted surveys, Macclesfield Nub News is a quality online newspaper which produces 30-40 stories a week for our town. You can find us on Facebook and Twitter.