A bank in Ireland had to be evacuated this morning after a swarm of 50 bats descended on staff and queuing customers.
Unsuspecting staff and customers at the Allied Irish Branch in Cork were told to quickly vacate the building after a sudden and serious bat infestation on Friday morning, CorkBeo reported.
One staff member said that pet control specialists were called into the branch after they arrived in this morning to "find bats flying everywhere" as they were seen hanging from the ceiling.
The staff member added: "They took out around 50 bats but there may be more inside that they missed."
However, the Allied Irish Bats were humanely dealt with - as all bats are protected under Irish wildlife legislation.
Staff volunteered to stay inside the branch after the worst of the bat infestation was tackled, to keep business ticking over and deal with important customer business as customers waited for information - but were advised to use other banks in the meantime if they could.
However, the branch had to be closed to the public and a notice went up on the door outside asking locals in Cork to bear with them and to go to different banks nearby if they needed in person service that was urgent.
The sign put up on the bank read: "Branch temporarily closed. Apologies for any inconvenience caused."
A popular local news magazine received lots of queries from early this morning as to why the branch had suddenly closed but it was not until later this afternoon that the word about the bats got out.
A spokesperson for AIB told CorkBeo: "Our Blarney branch is temporarily closed, and we’re working to have it open again as soon as possible. We apologise to any customers who are inconvenienced."
All Irish bats are protected under Irish and EU legislation as the animals themselves and their roosts are protected - it is also an offence to disturb or interfere with them without a licence.
