A Scottish family have been terrorised by an invasion of bats in their home that were found living in their sofa.
The family of six, from Ayrshire, endured six months of hell living with the bats their council house in Maybole before they were moved due to the flying creatures.
The bat terror began when one of the winged menaces landed on two-month old baby's car seat and clawed into her blanket.
Kathleen Cuthbert, 26, her husband Ryan, 30, feared for their four kids, Rhys, seven, Kayden, six, Ryan, two, and seven-month-old Kady as they made a grim discovery of three or four bats on the couch one day.
“We’ve got a fear of bats. It felt like they had just taken over our home," Kathleen told Ayrshire Live. “We are absolutely petrified of them.
“The first time we saw one it landed on my baby girl's car seat and dug into her blanket. I was screaming.
“After we saw one they seemed to just multiply there was three or four on our living room sofa. They were so small you could barely see them but they’d be right beside you.”
The bats then completely took over the house and saw them appear in multiple different rooms, with Kathleen describing them as "tarantulas with wings".
Bat droppings were also found in her two-year-old son's bedroom but council chiefs have denied they posed any health hazard.
The family upped sticks and were sent to stay in Prestwick while council pest control teams checked out the house along with a bat conservationist.
At first, around 12 of the frightening creatures were removed from the property as a large deep clean took place.
Council crews then ensured there was no gaps from the loft where bats were coming from into the loft.
Kathleen said: “When the council inspected our home they found bat droppings in our youngest boy's bedroom and on his curtains.
“We noticed there was a weird smell in his room for months, and he kept getting chest infections.
“A bat expert who was there said my son’s room had ‘a bat smell’, but the council said it wasn’t a health hazard.
“They also found droppings on our sofa. The council offered to deep clean it but I never wanted to sit on it again after what had been living there.”
Kathleen also took the decision to get rid of trees in her back garden which were said to be a food source for the bats.
Kathleen claims she has been left out of pocket after spending £1,080 to remove trees. But council chiefs say she never asked for permission and was never advised to do this.
A spokesperson for South Ayrshire Council said: "During the council’s housing services team initial visit to the property, every room was checked with the resident present. It was later confirmed by the bat specialist that all evidence pointed to bats being located in the downstairs areas of the property.
"An odour within a cupboard in one of the upstairs bedrooms was thought to be coming from the loft insulation and, as part of the internal works to the property, the loft insulation was removed, the loft area was cleaned and new loft insulation installed.
"After the bats were removed, the property received a full clean, and was cleaned again before the resident and her family made the decision to return home."
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