Legal protection

We don’t know how many bats there were in Britain 100, 50 or even 20 years ago, but we do know they are much less common than they once were.

Because of this decline in the number of bats, a section about bats was included in the Wildlife and Countryside Act, passed by Parliament in 1981. This protects not only all British bats, but also the places where they roost. It is now illegal to kill, injure or disturb a bat. This includes blocking up entrance holes. If work is planned on a building suspected of housing bats at any time, the Statutory Nature Conservation Organisation (SNCO) for the area should be contacted. The addresses of these are given below. Work will not necessarily be prevented, but advice given on the least disturbing way of doing it.

Remember that because bats return to the same place year after year, a bat roost is protected even if bats aren’t there all the time. Contact your SNCO or your local bat group (see Bat conservation) if you need advice.

English Nature (EN), Northminster House,
Northminster Road, Peterborough PE1 1UA
Tel: 01733 455000

Countryside Council for Wales (CCW), Plas Penrhos,
Fford Penrhos, Bangor, Gwynedd LL57 2LQ
Tel: 01248 370444

Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH),
12 Hope Terrace, Edinburgh EH9 2AS
Tel: 0131 4474784

Department of the Environment, Environment Service,
Commonwealth House, 35 Castle Place, Belfast, N.I. BT1 1GH
Tel: 01232 251477