DEMOLITION work on a country house has been halted for several months - because there are bats roosting in the attic.

Ravenswick Hall, north of Kirkbymoorside, is being demolished to make way for a new stately home on the same site, labelled the first of its kind in Yorkshire in 200 years.

The disruption to the work was revealed by local Gareth Jenkins, who is documenting the demolition of the old hall - and the construction of the new one - in a blog.

He said: “The discovery of nesting bats under roof tiles of Ravenswick Hall, which was about to be demolished, has meant all work has had to be stopped. As a protected species no disturbance can now take place until at least October.”

He added that the animals are brown long-eared bats, a small bat species which has a body of around 5cm and distinctive long ears.

According to the Bat Conservation Trust all bat species and their roosts are legally protected, by both domestic and international legislation, making it a criminal offence to intentionally disturb a bat in its roost.