An endangered species of snail, which held up construction of the Newbury bypass 10 years ago, has died out in the site it was relocated to as part of the project. Anti-roads protesters said the fate of the infamous 2mm Desmoulin’s whorl snail ‘demonstrates that translocation of protected species for roads schemes often fails’. Road Block said it had long-suspected that moving species to allow roads projects to go ahead did not work, and urged MPs on the environmental audit committee to investigate further. Research by Buglife, the invertebrate conservation trust, follows a recent report by the government’s Countryside Agency and the Campaign to Protect Rural England stating that the Newbury bypass had generated more traffic than predicted (Surveyor, 6 July). Matt Shardlow, Buglife director, said that ‘in the midst of a biodiversity crisis, the loss of Desmoulin’s whorl snail on its translocation site is a timely reminder of the fragility of the wildlife around us. Quick fixes rarely work. We need our leaders to take brave choices that will protect natural resources for our descendants.’ The news came as a report from English Nature and the Highways Agency on protecting butterflies in road schemes (see below) stated that translocation ‘generally does not compensate for the loss of valuable habitats’, although it has been successful for some invertebrates.