THESE Cranford House school pupils may look like they’re having fun pretending to be bats.

But there is a serious point behind the game.

Construction work on the school’s £1.5m sports hall development has ground to halt because of two bats.

Diggers arrived at the school in Moulsford, South Oxfordshire, last week but were halted when pipistrelle bats were found inside one of the old buildings.

Conservation rules prevent developments proceeding which will impact on certain types of protected wildlife.

It is illegal to kill bats in the UK, and also against the law to move them when they are breeding. However, the school hit on a novel idea to try to get around the problem.

Pupils were asked to create bat boxes at school’s annual eco day last week.

They hope to lure the bats out safely, allowing building work to start.

Kara Griffiths, 12, said: “We had a really interesting and fun day, learning lots about bats and how they live. Hopefully ours can be rehoused very soon.”

Pupils have left the boxes in the loft to try to entice the colony out.

The bulldozers will remain on site ready to begin for six weeks, which will give the school time to apply for a European Protected Species (EPS) licence.

The licence will outline conditions to deal with unavoidable impacts.

It will not stop the work going ahead, but will ensure that it doesn’t negatively affect the bats and is within the law.

Director of admissions at Cranford House, Jean Simmons, said: “It is quite funny, all this over two little bats. They have no idea of the havoc they’ve caused.

“We have an eco day every year when the whole school is taken out of lessons and takes part in a full day of environmental education. They love it, they learn about the world around them, and their impact on the world through their carbon footprint.”

Oxfordshire bat expert David Endacott, of Wantage, said: “Although only one or two bats may have been found, droppings indicate the presence of many.

“It’s rare that you will find just two.

“They are our most common bat, they eat midges and if you go outside during the summer they are the ones you will see flying around.

“They breed this time of the year, so unfortunately it’s often a case of waiting until they move.”

This is not the first time animals have caused disruption to developments in the county.

In 2011 it was feared the presence of bats nesting in a tunnel would delay the Chiltern Railway’s £130m railway route between Oxford and London, via Bicester.

But Transport Secretary Patrick McLoughlin approved an order allowing it to go ahead after accepting measures to protect bats which use Wolvercote Tunnel in Oxford as a roost.

And last month rabbits were blamed for causing rush-hour traffic delays on a busy route near Wallingford.

They were believed to have burrowed beneath the A329 at the junction with Halfpenny Lane, between Moulsford and Cholsey.

Repairs were likely to take months and tens of thousands of pounds to complete.

  • For more information on bat conservation see bats.org.uk