A NORTH Yorkshire man who claimed his home had been left uninhabitable after hundreds of bats flocked there has been given permission to remove them.

Jonathan Mortimer, of Harrogate, said the creatures were causing havoc at his property at Leathley, which was once a set for the TV soap Emmerdale.

However, he had to negotiate for months over the issue because bats and their roosts are protected by UK law.

He has now been given a licence to “exclude” the bats by Natural England after saying he had, at one point, counted up to 300 entering his home. “It proved impossible to sleep with hundreds of bats above our heads, screeching and scrapping,” he said.

To ensure no bats are harmed or killed, the work will not take place until August when they are expected to migrate and leave the roost. The Bat Conservation Trust said it had worked with Mr Mortimer to find a solution.