HOW did the toads cross the road? With help from human heroes who spent hours carrying them to safety.

Hundreds of frisky amphibians are emerging from woods in Kennington in search of a mate, but face becoming roadkill at a treacherous crossing.

Residents in the village bundle them into buckets every year as they hop out from Bagley Wood, saving them from splattering on the 50mph road which separates them from their breeding pond next to Chandlings school.

Organiser Lisa Temple, 47, has helped for the past six years.

The Cumnor resident said: "It's an amazing wildlife phenomenon. It's so rewarding, you feel like you've done something to help. A lot of people have completely the wrong idea about toads, thinking they are slimy and move quickly. But if you meet them you'll find them utterly charming.

"We go out when the conditions are about right in our high-visibility gear with buckets and pick them up as they come out. At the end of the evening we take the live ones and cross over."

The dozen-strong band of protectors slow traffic on Oxford Road with the help of special toad signage, which Oxfordshire County Council puts up during mating season.

Volunteers saw an influx of toads two weeks ago and are still monitoring for latecomers.

Miss Temple said they count 350-450 toads every year, adding: "They have an amazing homing instinct and go back to the same ponds where a road has now been built."

The group started following a campaign by Froglife in the 1980s encouraging residents to help toads.

According to the charity's website, there are also crossings in Hinksey, Iffley, Wootton and North Oxford.

Kennington volunteer Sylfest Muldal, 62, described the toads as "amazing little animals" that emerge at dusk when the air is warm and wet with rain, alongside frogs and newts.

He added: "It's a couple of kilometres away but for a very small animal that's quite a migration. There is somebody there almost every evening when the weather conditions are right.

"The males are on the lookout. They often jump on the females' backs and you see a little stack of them moving across the road."

To find your nearest crossing visit froglife.org.