The Trust is calling on volunteers to join in toad patrols in Alderbury and Little Durnford, in south Wiltshire, to help this vulnerable amphibian to breed safely.

Martin Gilchrist, the Trust's Salisbury Wildlife Officer, explains the deadly connection between toads and tarmac - and why it's not just a matter of being caught on the hop: "The Common Toad (bufo bufo) doesn't hop, like a frog does. They move at a painstaking crawl, travelling under cover of darkness and following centuries-old routes from their hibernation sites to the ponds in which they breed - usually between March and May. The path of true toad love has become a perilous mission because many of their ancient routes now cross busy roads."

The Alderbury toad crossing is fast becoming a village tradition.

Every year, villagers of all ages take up their buckets in defence of the toad.

Last year the village's toad patrol saved almost 700 toads from an untimely death, simply by picking them up and carrying them to safety.

The increasingly mild winters of recent years have meant that the toads are waking earlier and earlier, so Martin is putting out a call for potential toad patrollers to get ready for action.

"The effort to prevent toad road deaths is particularly important as this well-known creature has declined in the UK, possibly due to the loss of wild ponds in the countryside as well as the devastating effect of the car. And the huge increase in garden ponds has not been as much of a boon to the toad as to its hopping cousin, the frog, because toads need deep water to spawn successfully.

"Without the help of people such as the fantastic toad patrollers of Alderbury and Little Durnford, thousands of Wiltshire toads will die needlessly this Spring, adding to the species' struggle for survival," says Martin.