RESIDENTS in Wordsley say their lives are being blighted by badgers which are ripping up gardens and starting to burrow dangerously close to homes.

Elderly people living in The Haven have been complaining for years about the problem which has left their gardens looking like bomb sites.

But they now fear boundary walls, formed from a natural sandstone cliff surrounding the cul-de-sac, could collapse as a result of repeated tunnelling by the bothersome beasts - which are a protected species.

Resident Lorraine Price said she had to have 18 tonnes of soil and debris removed after her garden wall crumbled onto her drive.

She said: “They had to remove four wagon loads. You can see where they’ve exposed the rock.”

The destructive creatures, which have built a complex system of tunnels in the area, have also wreaked havoc in her once picturesque garden, exposing tree roots, churning up her lawn and vegetable patch, and knocking over pots.

She said: “It’s devastating.”

Meanwhile a man in a neighbouring street even worries his house could subside if the burrowing badgers aren’t stopped in their tracks soon.

He told Brierley Hill Area Committee last Thursday (March 8): “My garden is just a bomb site and if the sett goes under the foundations I could have subsidence and my house could be unmortgageable.”

After being told by the committee it would be a tricky situation to resolve given the protection afforded to badgers by law, he said: “Are you saying badgers are protected so my house has got to fall down?”

Up to 13 setts are dotted around the cliff bordering The Haven, parts of the The Green and back gardens in New Street.

Timothy Foster from New Street said his mum was scared to venture onto the lawn and he added: “It’s such a nuisance.”

John Gutteridge, whose garden is decimated on a daily basis by the creatures, added: “The Haven’s a nice place to live or it was until these things came and turfed everything up. I keep trying to put it back but they just keep digging it up.”

Councillor Patrick Harley told residents at the meeting: “It’s quite a serious issue - something does need to be done.

“They’re set to burrow under the community centre carpark - there’s huge piles there. God knows what damage they’re doing there.”

Ward councillor Geoff Southall said: “This has been going on for years. I feel sorry for these residents - for the whole time I’ve been on the council this has been an issue.

“They’re burrowing all the time; it’s very worrying for people because of the potential for these banks to come down.”

Badgers and their setts are protected under the Protection of Badgers Act 1992, which makes it illegal to kill, injure or remove badgers or to interfere with a sett.