Company which asked surveyors to change bat report fined after demolishing protected roost

A housing company which asked for a bat survey to be fiddled so it could go ahead with a redevelopment has been fined for destroying a roost, according to police.

City and Westminster Developments Ltd, from North Kensington, was told to pay £4,500 after allowing a demolition company to knock down a building which housed a common pipestrelle bat roost, so that access could be gained to the rear of the site.

According to the Met, the firm admitted a charge of destroying the resting place of a wild animal of a European Protected Species and was fined at Hendon Magistrates’ Court on September 17.

The company, based in Kilburn Lane, had purchased four properties in Great North Way for redevelopment and paid for an ecological survey to be carried out prior to commencing demolition and building works, police added.

Ecologists concluded that the buildings had a “high” probability of use by roosting bats and suggested a further survey. Unhappy with the outcome, City and Westminster Developments asked the surveyors to change this likelihood to “low”, police said, but they refused to do this.

The second ecology company’s report also reached the conclusion that there was a high probability the buildings would support roosting bats, and during its survey a number of the nocturnal mammals were seen to emerge from three of the four buildings.

Despite this, the demolition company was allowed on site on August 19 to knock down a property which housed a roost, police added.

The matter was reported to police and an investigation carried out by the Met’s Wildlife Crime Unit.

DC Sarah Bailey, of the unit, said: “In Britain and Europe, all species of bats are protected in law, however the number of bats in London is declining. This is mainly because many of their traditional roosting and foraging sites are being destroyed by land and building developments, as well as home improvements such as loft conversions and timber treatments.”

Joe Nunez-Mino, from the Bat Conservation Trust, said: “As ever the Bat Conservation Trust regrets that prosecutions are needed to uphold the legislation that protects bats and their roosts but acknowledges that this is necessary to hold offenders to account for their illegal actions.”

The company was also told to pay a £450 victim surcharge and costs of £85.