BURROWING badgers are wreaking havoc near ancient burial sites on Salisbury Plain.

The army training estate north of Stonehenge is rich in archaeological artefacts and human remains that date back to around 3500BC. But the excavations of badgers have disturbed up to half the long barrows and burial grounds, forcing the ministry of defence, which owns the land, to try and coax them away to less sensitive areas.

Last year, metal mesh was placed near some of the barrows in the World Heritage site near the Stonehenge monument, and now archaeologists employed by the MoD are looking at similar tactics on Salisbury Plain.