STAFF at a welding company are playing host to a group of cheeky squatters who have moved in for the winter.

But the team at Barker Welding Supplies are more than happy to welcome the hundreds of new visitors who are nesting on the roof.

A large flock of lapwings has taken up residence and look set to stay at the factory for the winter months.

Husband and wife Eric and Doreen Barker, who have run the company for the past 30 years, spotted the unusual looking birds a month ago and have been astounded by the growing number of new visitors every week since.

The lapwings chose the right factory to head for as Barkers is in the appropriately named Eagle Street in the Haulgh area. The Barkers assumed the birds might have made themselves comfortable because of the unusually mild October instead of migrating to a warmer climate.

Doreen said: "It's amazing to see them all.

"When they take off from the roof together the whole sky darkens.

"There are lots of other factories in this area, but they just seem to have taken a shine to our roof."

Eric said: "I was driving towards work the other day and could see the birds swarming about for miles.

"They are making a lot of mess, but we don't mind.

"We're just interested to know why they chose us."

Lancashire Wildlife Trust officer Mark Champion is an expert on lapwings and has been helping to compile research on the species which is believed to have changed its habits over the past 10 years.

He explained: "There seems to be an unique phenomenon in Bolton and Wigan with lapwings setting up home for the winter on the top of old mills or anything with a flat roof.

"The birds come off the Moors and then look for a similar habitat.

"There is more food on the streets of Bolton now than in the countryside for them because of all the agricultural changes.

"They know they have somewhere safe to roost, can go and look for food and then come back to their new home.

"Traditionally in the winter the birds would come off the moors and nest in heather in lowland fields." HIGH FLIERS: Lapwings soar over Bolton's Barker Welding Supplies Ref: J3442/29 IN A FLAP: A lapwing returns to its home above a Bolton welding company