Needing help?

Help needed out of office hours?

If you have a problem with bats and you can't get through to one of our Area offices, you can telephone the Scottish Natural Heritage Bat Helpline on:

01738 458663

Alternatively, you can try the Bat Conservation Trust National Bat Helpline  on:

0845 1300 228

Bats in domestic properties

Sometimes bats can cause problems in houses and other buildings, see Problems with bats in your property?  Scottish Natural Heritage employs trained and experienced bat workers who are there to provide practical advice on how to deal with these problems at no charge to householder. In recognition of the special set of circumstances associated with domestic situations, Scottish Natural Heritage policy is that roost visits will only be undertaken by our bat workers in cases involving enquiries from householders, whether they own or rent the property.

If you are experiencing difficulties with, or have concerns about bats in your property please contact your local SNH office for advice. If the issues cannot be resolved by telephone or other correspondence, we will ask one of our bat workers to visit you, investigate the bat-related issues and discuss the possible solutions with you face to face. If you plan to do anything that may affect bats in your property, this may require a licence and you should contact SNH for advice about this.

Bats in non-domestic properties

In commercial premises, public buildings, hotels, schools, hospitals and other buildings not classed as dwellings, we will still provide verbal and/or written advice, but we will not normally send out a bat worker to undertake a roost visit. In these cases a specialist bat consultant should be employed to advise further as necessary. Some of these are listed in the IEEM Register of Consultants  .