Bats in roof hold up revamp of pub near Stafford
Bats have left the refurbishment of a pub hanging around as work has had to be delayed so inspectors can carry out a survey.
The Red Lion, in Bradley just outside Stafford, has had the validation of a full refurbishment planning application delayed while a bat survey is undertaken.
The property was taken over by the Lewis Partnership in November with the intention of running it until planning permission was accepted for a full refurbishment. But upon inspection, bat activity was discovered in the roof, out of the view of the public.
The pub now plans to temporarily close its kitchen from April 18 to May 6 to undertake changes in order to stagger the work and make the eventual full refurbishment.
However, the bar will still be open during this period. It is now hoped that following a second bat inspection in May, the application will be validated and permission for the complete refurbishment will be forthcoming in August 2016.
Group marketing manager for the Lewis Partnership, Karen Brown said: "We're not seeing it as a setback and taking the opportunity to do some internal work without planning permission and without disturbing bats instead of of doing the full refurb in one go."
