The government has warned housebuilders they must avoid any "unnecessary loss of habitats" during construction work or face a regulatory clampdown, amid growing public uproar over developers placing netting on trees and hedgerows that can trap wildlife.

During building work, it has become a relatively common practice for netting to be placed over trees and hedgerows to keep birds away and prevent them nesting.

The approach was originally designed to prevent birds nesting in areas where they could come to harm, but Communities Secretary James Brokenshire this week warned that the practice could be being used unnecessarily, leading to wildlife being trapped or denied appropriate nesting sites.

Writing to leading UK developers this week, he sought to remind construction firms of their legal obligation to consider the impact of any project on local wildlife and take precautionary action where necessary to protect habitats.

And he warned that although the planning rulebook was already clear on these obligations, if developers did not follow these rules, the government "has not ruled out further action to protect our country's valuable ecological system".

"Developments should enhance natural environments, not destroy them," he wrote. "Netting trees and hedgerows is only likely to be appropriate where it is genuinely needed to protect birds from harm during development. I hope developers will take these words on board and play their full role to make sure we can deliver new communities in an environmentally sustainable way."

It comes amid increasing concern that netting is being too frequently used by developers on trees, hedges, and cliffs.

Norfolk County Council has come in for particular criticism from campaigners and politicians on social media this week after deploying 1.3 kilometre of netting across a coastal cliff face while it works on a £22m 'sandscaping' project to help protect Bacton gas terminal from coastal erosion.

Conservationists argue the project is damaging wildlife and have ciurculated videos showing birds being prevented from nesting as normal in the cliff face.

As a result, Norfolk Council announced yesterday it had instructed contractors to remove upper levels of the netting at Bacton cliffs, but that "minimum levels" of netting would be still be retained to protect homes and the gas terminal from sandscaping work.

1/2 After positive discussions with @Natures_Voice, we have instructed contractors to remove upper levels of netting at Bacton cliffs. Minimum levels will be retained to assist in progressing with this critical project to protect people's homes and national infrastructure

— North Norfolk DC (@NorthNorfolkDC) April 9, 2019

RSPB's director for conservation, Martin Harper, said netting should be used sparingly, and only if "there is absolutely no alternative".

"Across the UK wildlife is vanishing at an alarming rate, and our planning system must play a vital role in not just reversing this decline but helping nature to recover," he said. "We are pleased to see the Secretary of State is acknowledging the concerns many people have about the use of netting, and how strongly we all feel about sharing our future neighbourhoods with nature rather than pushing it away."

In its forthcoming Environment Bill, the government has said it plans to strengthen green planning rules to require developers to deliver biodiversity net gains, meaning habitats and wildlife must be left "in a measurably better state than they were before any development".

Andrew Whitaker, planning director at the Home Builders Federation, said the industry was now working with the RSPB to help develop requirements aimed at enhancing wildlife protections during building work. But he also stressed the UK needed new homes to be built "without delay".

"As we build the homes the country needs, the industry is committed to supporting and enhancing bio-diversity, proactively protecting wildlife and providing an overall increase in the number of trees," he said.