ANGRY Eastleigh leisure gardeners have accused the borough bosses of double standards after slow-worms were slaughtered by heavy plant vehicles when contractors moved on to an allotment site.

The allotment holders were claiming victory after calling in English Nature and getting work halted.

Council chiefs have admitted they blundered, blaming a breakdown in communication between departments, and have said they will now be reviewing the way in which environmental information is circulated internally.

A spokesman said: "The council places a high priority on protecting the environment and regrets the lapse on this occasion."

Last week Eastleigh's executive cabinet gave the go-ahead for a number of slow worms to be relocated from a former garage site to two areas of open space to enable a developer to build six three-bedroom homes in the town.

Authorisation for the green move came after ecological surveys of the site off Burns Close found slow-worms. As a protected species, the legless lizards had to be found new homes to prevent them being harmed.

Allotment holders were furious when they discovered contractors working on behalf of the council to extend the Brookwood Avenue cemetery had killed a number of slow worms on part of the Woodside Avenue allotment site.

Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Allotment Association treasurer Ted Ingram said: "I have one dead body and we also found a dead family of two adults and a lot of babies.

"They have obviously been crushed by the heavy machinery and as far as I am concerned it is a wildlife crime."

He added: "The council should have known that the sort of habitat they were working on was bound to have slow worms on site."

The allotment association swung into action to try to prevent any more deaths and yesterday members sat at the gates in a bid to persuade contractors not to go back on site while other allotmenteers contacted English Nature who, in turn, notified the police.

A borough council spokes-man said contractors had been called in to clear debris from what had been part of a temporary allotment site prior to work to lay out the land for use as a cemetery extension.

He said: "Survey work previously undertaken by the council identified the presence of slow-worms on the site. Regrettably the council's Direct Services Unit, which is undertaking the project to extend the cemetery, was not aware of the survey when giving instructions to contractors to start work."

He added: "The clearance work stopped immediately the mistake was realised. The council is now seeking advice from English Nature about the best way to proceed."

Reacting to the halt in work on the site, Mr Ingram said: "This is great news. Apart from anything else it means they are not going to kill any more slow-worms."

Last week, Burns Close resident Sam Snook informed Eastleigh Council's executive cabinet that there were thousands of slow-worms at the Burns Close redevelopment site, not just 30 as had been claimed. He has also notified English Nature.