THE demolition of former colliery houses has been put on hold because unexpected squatters are believed to be holed up in the empty homes.

Easington District Council bosses have been left with no option but to delay the project after it was discovered that protected species of bats may have taken up residence in the properties.

More than 80 boarded-up houses in Bolam, Boyd and Butler Streets (the B streets), in Easington Colliery, were due to be knocked down from last month.

As part of the normal demolition procedure, the properties had to be checked to see if there was any evidence of bats in the rafters.

Bats are a protected species and it is illegal to intentionally kill, disturb or injure them or destroy their breeding places or roosts.

Initial site assessment of the buildings in the B streets has revealed that there is a strong possibility that bats have moved in.

But at this time of year, the flying mammals are in hibernation and inspectors who have searched the properties have been unable to probe deeply enough to uncover the intruders because of the risk of disturbing their roosts.

As a result, the 82 terraced houses cannot be touched until May when the bats would normally begin to emerge from their winter hiding holes.

And that has left the authority with no option but to leave all the houses intact.

Ian Morris, the District of Easington Council's head of housing strategy, admitted the dilemma was quite literally driving him "batty".

He said: "English Nature requires us to undertake a survey on buildings that are due to be knocked down to ensure that we do not put this protected species at risk.

"A survey was carried out in January and we were advised that work could go ahead, so plans were put in place for demolitions to start in February.''

But he added: "Unfortunately, we have now been advised that as there is a high risk that bats are roosting, an emergence survey is required. And that means not a brick can be touched until sometime in May."