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This licence can only be used by employees or contractors of the internal drainage boards.

This licence allows you to interfere with badger setts for the purpose of conducting the following watercourse or drainage maintenance operations:

• cutting bank vegetation with hand tools or a tractor-mounted flail
• cutting bank vegetation and processing it with a purpose-built harvester
• cutting mid-channel vegetation with a 360 degree excavator
• reforming banks with a 360 degree excavator
• desilting drainage beds with a 360 degree excavator
• maintaining low-level drainage culverts with a 360 degree excavator

The licence cannot be used to interfere with badger setts that are causing problems in flood defences and reservoir dams.

Register to use this licence

This is a class licence. You need to notify Natural England in writing that you wish to use it. You must be eligible to register for this licence, that is be employed or contracted to work for the internal drainage boards.

If youre working on behalf of an internal drainage board, youll also need to provide the name and contact details for a drainage board member of staff who can confirm that youre a contractor working for them.

Write to or email:

How to report your actions

You must send an annual record of any watercourse or drainage maintenance operations conducted under this licence to Natural England by 31 January each year. You should send your report using this licence report form.

Sending an annual report also renews your registration to use this licence.