Vintage cars in the firing line of resident bats (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Vintage cars in the firing line of resident bats

7:48am Tuesday 2nd June 2009 in

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EVERY evening, staff at a Hampshire tourist attraction take part in a bizarre guessing game.

Employees at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, try to work out which of the historic cars are likely to be damaged during the night by bats living in the roof.

About 100 bats are thought to have taken up residence in a replica of a 1930s garage in the main exhibition hall.

At night they fly out and leave their calling card on some of the cars on show, damaging the paintwork.

Staff attempt to protect the collection by covering vehicles beneath the creatures’ flightpath – but choosing the right ones is driving them batty.

Cars in the danger zone include a Sunbeam that set a new land speed record of 129mph an hour in 1922.

Museum attendant Andrew Farr said: “We do what we can but we don’t know where the bats will go.”

A spokesman said: “If it be-comes a huge problem we might have to see if the bats can be moved but it’s a long process and has to be done in a controlled way.”