CONSERVATION work is being carried out to help preserve the natural habitats of bats close to a planned new nuclear power station.

NuGen is investigating how bat roosts close to the Moorside development will be affected by upcoming work.

Earlier in the year, ecological specialists from Amec Foster Wheeler identified trees, buildings and other structures that have the potential to hold bat roosts and the teams are now returning to these locations to carry out bat roost surveys to see how they can mitigate the effect of the work and consider the possibility of relocating the roosts if necessary.

Rachael Greaves, senior consultant ecologist from Amec Foster Wheeler, is leading the work on behalf of NuGen.

She said: “We’ll be carrying out the work over the coming weeks and months – in the places we’ve identified where bats are likely to roost. The team will be using ‘bat detectors’, which are sensitive pieces of equipment able to pick-up the bat’s calls – normally inaudible to the human ear.

"Not only will this information be valuable to NuGen, helping the company develop the Moorside project in a way that will minimise the effects on local bat populations, it will also be useful in increasing our understanding of the bats present in West Cumbria.”

Residents around the area are being encouraged to co-operate as teams will be out and about at unsociable hours to learn as much as they can about the area.

Paula Madill, NuGen’s head of environment, said: “Bats are a protected species so it is essential we do as much as we can to identify their roosts. We are calling for assistance from some locals residents – as our experts will need to monitor at dawn and dusk, close to certain properties whose owners have been contacted in advance.

“The local residents have been very understanding and we appreciate their help and apologise for any inconvenience our environmental monitoring may cause.”