A BOLTON couple are being driven batty by some unexpected high-flying guests.

Pensioners Edna and Roland Parkinson had enjoyed 35 years of peace and quiet in their Little Lever home.

But problems were to come home to roost for the couple when, three years ago, they were invaded by a colony of bats.

Mr Parkinson, 88, and Mrs Parkinson, 87, first became suspicious when they discovered large amounts of droppings on the outside of their Martin Avenue home.

And to their horror they have now discovered their roof has become a summer residence to the colony -- who stay for up to four months at a time.

The couple's daughter Elaine Ionn, says while the bat problem is right on top of them they have rarely seen them.

"They are only very small creatures and they do not make any noise or do they leave a smell," she said. "The only way we know they are there is by the droppings they leave."

She added: "They tend to arrive in May and stay for four months. Thankfully they have just left again, but the real question is why they have suddenly decided on this house?

"For 35 years my parents had nothing. Now each May they are getting ready for the arrival of the bats." And Elaine's mum Mrs Parkinson added: "There are droppings every morning and I find it a lot of work which I don't want. I don't wish any harm to come to them but I wish they would find another roof to nest in."

The couple first contacted Bolton Council with the problem, who in turn put them in touch with members of the South Lancashire Bat Group, who work for English Nature.

An inspection of the Parkinson house by a Bat Group member confirmed that the bats are completely harmless and do no damage to the building.

But because bats are an endangered species the Parkinson family now face an uphill struggle to have them evicted.

A Bat Group spokesman said: "Bats are constantly under threat from destruction of or exclusion from roost sites and from loss of feeding habitat.

"Summer nursery roosts such as this are particularly important as places where the females gather together to raise their young. The babies are very vulnerable at first but are fully independent by mid-September when the colony should have moved on."

The group advise that no action should be taken to remove the bats between June and August when the young are still unable to fly.

They advise that Mr and Mrs Parkinson monitor the bats' exit holes and block them when they have left for the winter.

Mrs Ionn said: "They have also told us to use a special netting on the roof to prevent the bats from flying in next year which we are going to have to do because my parents really don't want them back!