Fears more than 1,000 toads may have died after Welsh water firm drains reservoir

A common toad in the UK. Wrexham Toad Patrols said waiting a little longer to undertake work on the reservoir ‘could have made all the difference’. Photograph: David Chapman/Alamy

More than 1,000 toads may have died after a reservoir important to the local ecosystem was drained by a water company, conservationists in north Wales have said.

Volunteers at Wrexham Toad Patrols help toads returning to the Nant-y-Ffrith reservoir on the Llandegla moors in breeding season, this year assisting 1,500 of the amphibians to cross busy roads to help protect the declining species.