A COUNTY council contractor made a 50-mile round-trip to collect water in Kent for a wildlife operation on Canvey.

Essex County Council has employed environment firm Country Style Group to relocate great crested newts from land near Roscommon Way, Canvey, ahead of a planned £12million extension of the road.

The firm is using water to flush out the great crested newts before collecting them in buckets, but instead of just plugging into the mains on Canvey a tanker lorry is driving all the way to Kent and back to refill.

Brian Keelside, director of engineering firm Fullmen based in nearby Charfleets Industrial Estate, saw the lorry come and go four times over the weekend.

He said: “When I spoke to the driver he said he was going to Kent to refill. It’s crazy.

“They could have plumbed into my water and I’d have taken a water reading and let them have it. I thought we were supposed to be worried about a budget deficit.”

Essex County Council said the the long journey to Kent was necessary because the council does not have a water abstraction licence with Anglian Water, the firm in charge of the water supply in Canvey, but does have a licence with North Kent Water.

Nicola Spicer, a spokeswoman for the council, said: “To obtain a licence with Anglian Water would take time and the window to move reptiles is very small.

“Officers are looking into the ways they operate to see if any savings can be made.”

The council would not reveal how much it was paying the firm to do the work.

The authority is in a race against time to complete phase one of the Roscommon Way extension before its funding runs out in March 2011.

The extension will see a mile-long road built linking Northwick Corner and Haven Road to ease traffic congestion in the area.

The council has been forced to spend £20,000 on relocating animals and providing new habitats after Natural England raised concerns about the impact of the road extension on wildlife.

Great crested newts are a protected species and as well as relocating the amphibians the council has also installed low-level plastic newt fencing around the construction site to make sure they do not come back.