Rare bats have been found in a hospital and so delayed redevelopment of the site.

Plans to sell part of the Royal Victoria Hospital in Folkestone have been held after the bats were found in the building.

The East Kent Hospitals University NHS Trust is selling off the Victorian building that forms part of the hospital in Radnor Park Avenue, as it has not been used for in-patient wards for more than a year.

As the trust wants to sell the site with planning permission for houses, it first commissioned an ecology survey - during which the pipistrelle and rare serotine bats were discovered in the back of the main building and in the separate Wakefield Hall.

This has set back the trust's plans by around nine months, while further information about the protected species is collected and alternative roosts are provided.

Director of facilities Howard Jones said: "We had not noticed any bats before the survey so it was a surprise. It is a bit of a nuisance, but planning is a tricky thing these days.

"As they are a protected species we must take extreme care of them."

Planning permission will be sought in around three months time and the site is likely to go on sale next spring.

Hattie Spray, who did the survey for Thomson Ecology, said: "If roosts are lost they must be replaced. Provision needs to be made for them.

"The trust is looking at providing these. We will work with the trust to apply for a licence to remove the bat roosts and to make sure they are caused minimum disturbance."