WORK to demolish a Dursley factory destroyed by fire has been delayed because a colony of bats has roosted in the building.

Dursley town and county councillor Geoff Wheeler and Stroud district councillor Hilary Fowles jointly sent residents a letter after complaints they had not been informed of work being carried out.

The letter said: "Unfortunately it is not yet clear whether the ornamental facade of the building can be saved or how long the road closure will last. There are also other issues concerning safety aspects on the rest of the site.

"In addition bats are believed to have been roosting in the building and, as they are protected species, DEFRA has been consulted. The bats licence has been obtained and bat-boxes are being put up. The roofs of the buildings will then be removed to prevent the bats from roosting there.

"After some work on the safety of the facade of the Victoria Works building a two-metre-high hoarding will be placed along the front of the building to protect members of the public from any danger of falling masonry.

"The hoarding will reduce the road width but will allow half the road to be re-opened with traffic lights. The next stage will be to demolish the building which could take up to 20 weeks. There will be times when there will have to be temporary road closures again for a few days at a time."

Residents also raised concern about parking in Long Street.

One told the Gazette: "Parking is a nightmare. There are more cars than usual because the workmen are parking here as well as residents and we are limited to a little bit of space on the road.

"The wardens are down here all the time checking parking.

"I have small children and, if I have to park up the street I have to carry a lot of stuff with me as well as having the children."

The letter from the two councillors said: "Parking in Long Street is even worse than it was and we have met with council officers to look for solutions.

"One suggestion was to relax parking restrictions on some parts of Long Street and we have also suggested using other currently unoccupied areas for parking behind Long Street."

Richard Mayes, acting sales director for sales agent Besley Hill, said: After a challenging start I am confident that we will see significant progress in the coming months. I am looking forward to Crest Nicholson's sales launch in May, 2005."