A ROOST of pregnant bats last seen months ago has been given a brand new £20,000 house.
They are the first 'tenants' to get a new home as part of the multi-million pound redevelopment of the Treborth Road area in Chester.
The house was completed three weeks ago and so far neighbours on Tregele Close, Blacon, have spotted just two bats in the area.
But next door, the prospect of a house full of bats has left 14-year-old Amy Ingram, a Blacon High School pupil, living in terror.
Dad Russell said: 'She's got a real phobia of them. She's terrified.'
At the moment though, the bat house is virtually empty.
One Tregele Close resident said: 'Why don't they put bat boxes in the woods? They're wild animals and capable of settling down there.'
Developers Chester and District Housing Trust said they were given little choice.
A trust spokesman said: 'The kind of roost that was found in that block was a maternity roost, which is the most significant form of roost.
'This meant that by law we were not able to provide them with a simple bat box but a full roost which costs £20,000.'
The trust is crossing its fingers they will return to the area.
To entice them, a licensed Bat Surveyor has scraped bat droppings out of other blocks put it in the new home.
But even if no bats appear the house is here to stay - by law.
