Beaver released into the wild in Britain is run over

One of the first beavers to be released into the wild in Britain in 400 years was run over by a car and killed.

Eurasian beavers Beryl and Brian were the first release of beavers anywhere in the UK when they took up residence at the Forder Valley Nature Reserve. 

But Beryl was tragically killed in a car crash after her home city of Plymouth, Devon, suffered horrendous flash flooding at the weekend.

Plymouth City Council confirmed that Beryl managed to escape from her enclosure on Sunday night and was subsequently believed to have been hit by a car.

Heavy rain and flooding had caused significant damage to the beaver enclosure fence which allowed the two to escape.

Male beaver Brian was found safe - but Beryl was hit by a vehicle on Forder Valley Road in the early hours of Monday morning.

Beryl was one of the Scottish beavers released in the Forder Valley as part of a nature scheme to re-create natural habitats lost after hundreds of trees were chopped down.

The beavers were introduced to a specially-built re-wilding enclosure near Poole Farm so their activity could be monitored to access how their behaviour and actions reduce flooding and habitats for wildlife further downstream.

They arrived last year in what was the first release of beavers in the UK.