DEMOLITION work on a former council house has been temporarily halted after a wide range of wildlife was found to be living inside.

Large numbers of ‘defective’ Woolaway properties in the Priorswood area of Taunton are being demolished under Somerset Council’s North Taunton Woolaway Regeneration Programme, with the obsolete properties being replaced with new zero-carbon council houses.

Hughes and Salvidge, the council’s demolition contractor, has been demolishing properties at Durham Place to allow the next phase of the programme to get under way.

But a single house on this street has been left standing after bats, squirrels and multiple species of birds were found to be living inside.

The council’s officers are working hard to safely relocate the wild animals, after which the house can be demolished.

An update on the demolition work was posted on the official North Taunton Woolaway Facebook page on Friday (August 9).

A spokesman said: “The majority of the properties at old Durham Place are now demolished, but one property still stands due to the variety of wild life that is still nesting inside.

“The ecologist is working with the site team and they found two house sparrows nests and young in soil vent pipes at rear, two soprano pipistrelle bats housed in bay boxes, squirrels with three young babies under roof tiles, and a wood pigeon sat on eggs.

“Once the birds and young have fledged, the team will demolish the remaining building.

“In addition to this, the evens at Oxford Place have been demolished and the Hughes and Salvidge team has started on the odds.”

The North Taunton Woolaway scheme will ultimately see 162 ‘defective’ Woolaway homes in the Priorswood area of Taunton demolished and replaced by nearly 230 low-carbon council houses – with a further 27 homes being refurbished.

Phase A of the project was completed in the spring, delivering 47 new homes across five sites, comprising 21 new builds and 26 replacement properties.

Phases B and C of the project (replacing 136 existing dwellings with 111 higher quality properties) received planning permission from Somerset West and Taunton Council back in July 2022.

The current demolition work (which forms Phase B and part of Phase C) will see 53 sustainable homes delivered on Durham Place, Hereford Drive, Oxford Place and Southampton Row.