Lincolnshire County Council claimed it must build a £4.3m bridge and tunnel to protect bats as it begins road construction

A council said it is being forced to foot a £4.3 million bill for a bat bridge and tunnel in order to protect a rare bat species that has appeared in the area.

Lincolnshire County Council claimed it was disputing the costs for the "ridiculous" bridge and tunnel which it has been told must be built in order to go ahead with road construction near Lincoln.

It previously claimed that Natural England would object to the planning application for the construction if action was not taken. But the public body said it gave no direction that such measures have to be taken and never required the structure to be built.

Reform UK council leader Sean Matthews said: "Using £4 million of taxpayer money on bat bridges and tunnels is an absolute farce, and I am 100 per cent against paying this extortionate amount."

But he said there could be a scenario where the cost of delaying the project costs more than the council would save to fight the requirement.

"That absolutely does not mean I've resigned to paying this £4 million. I will continue doing everything I can, for as long as I can, to save taxpayer money on this scheme," he added.

He said the construction of the North Hykeham Relief Road would still start in early 2026 as expected.

The council said it has been told it must build a grassed-over bridge near the road to cater for the flight path of the barbastelle bat, a rare and vulnerable species in the UK. It added it also has to build a bat tunnel and bat "hop-overs" to allow space for them to cross the road safely.

A spokesperson for Natural England said: "Natural England was not consulted over bat mitigation for the North Hykeham Relief Road and as such, we did not require, 'demand' or design the bat 'culvert' and 'bridge' mitigation.

"The proposals have been designed by the developers based on their own ecological surveys and legal obligations."

In January, Cambridgeshire County Council warned that the East West Rail project, which is set to deliver a new rail link between Oxford and Cambridge, would have severe consequences for the barbastelle bats in the area.

It said the rail route, which is backed by chancellor Rachel Reeves, could have a "catastrophic" impact on the species population. Ms Reeves has been accused of waging a war on bats as she seeks reform to make it more difficult for wildlife concerns to interfere in infrastructure development.

Last year, HS2 Ltd spent more than £100m building a "shed" for bats to protect them from high-speed trains.

Mr Matthews said: "I will also be writing to the prime minister about the absurdity of this situation and how we can get this sorted. I'm confident the government will be willing to help, seeing as the Cabinet has also backed removing this type of costly red tape for developers."

Why a rare bat species could cost a council £4.3m