One hundred common lizards have been moved to a new home at Long Reach sewage works in Dartford.
The viviparous lizards were discovered earlier this year while Thames Water was preparing the site for a £40 million upgrade.
The reptiles were living right where the work was due to take place so were captured and re-housed.
Claudia Innes, Thames Water’s ecologist, said: “The lizards are doing well in their new home.”
Layers of roofing felt were laid near their old home, which warms up faster than anywhere else on the site and the lizards were attracted onto the cosy surface.
![]() The common lizard is a good swimmer
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“A wildlife specialist captured them during the early hours of the morning when their energy levels are at their lowest and they are most docile,” Ms Innes explained.
Their new home was made out of logs and soil left over from the constructions works.
They have also been protected with a reptile fence which will remain in place until the project is complete in 2012.
The first phase of the Long Reach upgrade is almost complete.
So far 35,000 tonnes of earth have been moved to create space for the new sewage treatment equipment.