The migrant camp set to be opened close to the Oxfordshire village of Piddington has been dealt another blow following the discovery that one of the world’s rarest bats is living on the site.
Barbastelle bats, a rare species of bats whose numbers are thought to have declined across Europe, have been detected by wildlife experts.
The discovery of the bats could lead to severe delays or scupper plans to house up to 1,256 asylum seekers on the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Bicester site.
They are on the endangered species red list and are so rare that in 2025 Norfolk county council cancelled a proposed £274million road after a colony of barbastelles were discovered.
The Home Office will now have to commission special surveys to establish the size and nature of any colony.
If the bats are found they will have to apply for a licence to continue building work from Natural England.
The bats are just the latest wildlife-related headache for the Home Office after another protected species – great crested newts – were discovered at the site.
The findings come after Piddington’s residents voted overwhelmingly to declare their independence from Britain in a vote this week.
On Wednesday morning, Piddington’s parish council announced the result after the sleepy Oxfordshire settlement went to the polls earlier this week to decide whether it should secede from the UK.
Barbastelle bats, a rare species of bats whose numbers are thought to have declined across Europe, have been detected by wildlife experts at MoD Bicester
The findings come after Piddington’s residents voted overwhelmingly to declare their independence from Britain in a vote this week
Of 312 votes there was a 92 per cent turnout, with 285 villagers backing independence with only 26 voting against it and one spoiled ballot paper.
The vote has no legal force and will not take Piddington out of the UK, but campaigners hope the gesture will send a message to Westminster over the proposed asylum accommodation at the former MoD site at Bicester.
An ecological report for the campaign group Wrong Plan, Wrong Site, which started legal proceedings on Wednesday to block the asylum plan, seen by The Telegraph, said: ‘The presence of barbastelles has the specific legal weight required to entirely halt, delay or force the withdrawal of a major planning application.’
It added that the discovery could force the developer to halt any planned demolition work until ‘full multi-season dusk and dawn emergency surveys are performed specifically for this species’.
Pedro Collins, an ecologist who was a biodiversity officer with the Environment Agency for more than 20 years, claimed he was 100 per cent certain it was barbastelle bats which had been detected.
He said: ‘The presence of a barbastelle elevates the site’s importance from a standard local level to national and European importance. Barbastelles are one of the rarest mammals in the UK.’
The Home Office has sought permission for the temporary use of the former Bicester Garrison, including accommodation, health and welfare facilities, roads, security infrastructure and recreational areas for up to 1,256 people.
Parish council chairman Tim McNally said: ‘Yesterday was the anniversary of the Battle of Britain and for us it was the Battle for Britain. We’d been identified as Ground Zero for a whole number of issues.’
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The Oxfordshire village of Piddington celebrates voting in favour of independence today
Mr McNally spoke in front of a pennant reading ‘Battle for Britain 2026’ outside the village hall, alongside another marking the date of the Battle of Britain – September 15, 1940.
Addressing politicians including Prime Minister Andy Burnham, he added: ‘This is an example of democracy in action. This is an example of a mandate of behaviour.
‘I didn’t realise what I was opening up and getting involved in. I just thought we were going to be opposing a plan. A plan that would have an impact on our village, that could turn our village upside down in a way not quite envisaged before.’
He described residents as ‘underdogs’ with a ‘plucky idea’, but said: ‘We have given an absolute message, not just to the region, not just to the country but to the world.’
Mr Burnham said that he understands the public’s ‘strength of feeling’ about migration following the vote.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy said that the Government would not reconsider the migrant housing proposal and the burden of hosting asylum accommodation should not just fall on ‘poorer communities’.
She told Sky News: ‘What I would just gently say to the people of Piddington is: we inherited a massive asylum backlog. We are getting that backlog down.
‘We’re speeding up the processing of claims, and in the meantime, we don’t think it’s acceptable for all of the burden of shouldering not just asylum accommodation, but also many other forms of temporary accommodation, to fall on poorer communities.
‘That’s what we saw under the previous government. Because accommodation is cheap in many, not just towns, but in particular postcode areas, people who live in more deprived communities have had to put up with almost… every other house in some instances… turned into HMOs, and that is not OK.’
A Home Office spokesperson said: ‘Appropriate surveys have been carried out, taking into account the seasonal behaviour of different animal species.
It has already been concluded the proposal is unlikely to have a significant impact on the environment.’
