They've moved from life's fast lane at their motorway junction home to a beautiful castle.

Everything that could be done to settle them into their new posh lifestyle has been carried out.

The fuel-polluting exhausts of bustling traffic at Brooklyn Park, near J6 of the M20 and once their humble abode, is now just a memory.

The newt family and their neighbours have arrived.

The finer things of life are now theirs to command, in the luscious green grounds of Allington Castle.

It's all part of a project led by principal ecologist Dr Lee Brady in partnership with Natural England, the owners of Allington Castle, and Gallagher Properties Ltd.

The newts' change of abode came about when Gallagher Properties received permission to build distribution warehousing near the motorway junction.

Work could not start until the great crested newt population living at Brooklyn Park, along with tadpoles and other baby newt species, could be moved.

Great crested newts are protected by law – it is illegal to harm or kill them, disturb their habitat or even handle them without a licence.

So before construction could start they had to be captured and relocated to a new site. The whole 18-month process cost Gallagher Properties around £100,000.

Given that 2,500 newts and tadpoles were rehomed, that equates to £40 for every newt.

Nick Yandle, group chief executive of Gallagher Properties, said: "Translocation was an expensive and challenging exercise, but as a company we are pleased that we carried out the job professionally, meeting the full costs to the satisfaction of Natural England."

Capturing the newts involved one kilometre of fencing, bottles and lots of patience.

Dr Brady said: "The fences served as barriers to direct them into the place where we wanted to capture them.

"To survey their living area took the best part of a season and capturing them started in July last year. Getting them into their castle home finished last May."

All the newts and tadpoles were translocated in damp boxes.

"Five ponds were created for them in the grounds, equivalent in total size to the place they vacated – so there was no net loss of breeding habitat to them," said Dr Brady, whose company is called Calumma Ecological Services. The first name refers to the chameleon endemic to Madagascar.

"The place they've moved to is a much higher quality habitat than where they originated. The new site has lovely woodland and grassland, full with log piles and other places the animals can shelter in."