THE £500 fine handed out to a property developer who destroyed a bat roost will not deter other unscrupulous builders from doing the same, a leading conservation charity has claimed.

David Dalton, aged 33, of Chorley New Road, Lostock, appeared in court this week after demolishing one of his buildings — despite knowing it contained a roost of brown long eared bats.

Dalton was fined just £500 — the maximum penalty is a £5,000 fine or up to six months in prison.

Peter Charleston, Investigations Officer for the Bat Conservation Trust, said: “Very few prosecutions for bat related offences are heard by the courts.

“A typical year will only see two or three across the UK. We would suggest that magistrates may need to reassess levels of appropriate penalty.

“We would argue that this latest fine of £500 plus £140 court costs is an insufficient deterrent to those potentially unscrupulous property developers out there.

“The message the court needs to be sending is that rare British wildlife needs protection.

“In our view the outcome of this hearing adds weight to the argument for CPS to appoint specialist wildlife crime officers.

“The sentencing council who are at present considering the production of guidelines for environmental offences may also take note of this case and extend the scope of the proposed guideline to wildlife crime.”

The Bat Conservation Trust (BCT) is the only national organisation solely devoted to the conservation of bats and their habitats in the UK.

Its network of 100 local bat groups and more than 1,000 bat workers, survey roosts and hibernation sites, and work with householders, builders, farmers and foresters to protect bats.

Dalton appeared before Chorley Magistrates Court earlier this week after pleading guilty to illegally destroying a bat roost in a property he was developing in Rivington Lane, Chorley.