He decided to try to save some which kept falling into the drains.
With friends, including Matthew Rowtaorn, Lisa Watts and her son, Jordan, Lyndsey Jones, Tina and Craig Winder, he started working at the site.
Over the past two years, they have rescued hundreds of frogs, toads and newts, but their latest find is two male great crested newts, which are a protected species under the 1981 Wildlife and Countryside Act.
Mr Watts said: “We are very excited about this discovery. I used to go down to Rushden pits as a kid and it would be alive with toads, newts and deer. Now that the Mallards housing estate has been built around the area, the wildlife population has dropped dramatically.
“If we can get it protected hopefully the population of amphibians will start to increase again. The conservation of these animals has to be there for future generations because if it carries on how it is there will be no life left down there.”
The friends will be contacting Amphibian Reptile Conservation (ARC) in the hope of ensuring the land is not used for development in the future and more can be done to protect these species.
According to ARC’s great crested newt officer, Dorothy Wright, as much evidence as possible is needed so it can get the local planning authority and Natural England to assess the area to see if measures can be put into place to help the conservation of the species.