Water voles: licence to displace them for work on flood defences, water courses or drainage systems (CL24)
Register for a licence to displace water voles to allow internal drainage boards to carry out works that could disturb or damage their burrows and report your actions.
Applies to England
Documents
Details
You must now have a licence to intentionally disturb water voles and move them from their original location by ‘displacement’.
This licence is for employees of internal drainage boards (the local public authorities with powers to manage water levels within their drainage districts) or anyone acting on behalf of them.
This licence lets you intentionally displace water voles and damage, destroy or obstruct their burrows to maintain or restore flood defences, drainage systems and water courses (such as rivers and streams) to: This licence can only be used:
- to preserve public health or safety
- to prevent serious damage to livestock, animal feed crops, growing timber, fisheries or any other property
- for reasons of overriding public interest
You can:
- cut vegetation over the burrow back to bare earth in spring and autumn and if required remove water from the water course (known as ‘water draw down’)
- carry out a destructive search of water vole burrows following removal of vegetation
- destroy the empty burrow after a destructive search
You should apply for an individual licence if you cannot follow the terms and conditions of this licence.
Register to use this licence
You must register with Natural England before you can use this licence. Only employees, contractors or consultants acting on behalf of internal drainage boards are eligible to register to use this licence. Send your completed registration form (CL24) by email or post to:
Wildlife licensing
(Science, education and conservation)
Natural England
Horizon House
Deanery Road
Bristol
BS1 5AH
You do not need to register if you have a personal survey licence.
How to report your actions
You must report your actions taken using this licence each year, even if you’ve taken no action. Send your completed report form (LR24) to Natural England by 31 January each year using the details on the form.
You must also complete the monitoring form (MON-CL24) each year to check for the presence of water voles at sites where displacement has taken place. Submit this form with your annual report and keep a copy in case this information is requested in future.
Licence renewal
By returning your report form each year you’ve renewed your licence. You should check for any amendments to the terms and conditions of use on the latest published version of this licence.
Updates to this page
Last updated
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Changed the scientific name of water voles to Arvicola terrestris for the purpose of this licence. We have added a new information and advice note (note e).
Update history
2026-01-01 00:01
Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January 2026 to 31 December 2030.
2025-03-05 11:45
Changed the scientific name of water voles to Arvicola terrestris for the purpose of this licence. We have added a new information and advice note (note e).
2025-01-01 00:01
Updated this licence to cover the period 1 January to 31 December 2025. Reworded several sections to make the information clearer, including the sections on ‘Registering to use this licence’ and ‘Recording and reporting requirements’. Additional techiniques added to the section on ‘What this licence permits’. Amended licence conditions (conditions 7, 9 and 16) and an information and advice note (note d). Added additional licence conditions (conditions 4 and 8) and an information and advice note (note b); these have been renumbered following the addition of the new conditions and note.
2024-01-01 00:01
There is an update to this licence for 1 January 2024.
2023-01-01 00:15
Licence updated to cover the purpose of reasons of overriding public interest. Annual updates valid from 1 January 2023.