A couple thought they were going batty when they found one of the furry rodents in their second floor flat.

Colchester pensioners William and Eileen Presdee feared they had bought more than memories of sand, sun and sangria back from their Spanish holiday believing the bat had hitched a ride in their suitcase.

The RSPCA, Trading Standards and English Nature all became involved in the case of the mystery bat, which could not be moved when it was first found on Sunday due to fears about rabies and other infectious diseases bought back from Spain.

But it later turned out to be nothing more than a pipistrelle bat, one of the most common types and frequently found in houses in the Colchester area, although it still remains a mystery how it got into the flat.

Mr Presdee, 68, of Walter Porter Close, Francis Way, Colchester, fed the bat milk from an eye dropper and borrowed a piece of cheese from a neighbour after advice on feeding from the RSPCA.

"We arrived home on Sunday morning and unpacked. We did not discover the bat straight away but saw him on a tropical plant in the living room later on," he said.

"There had never been any bats around our flats and there were a lot around the hotel in Spain - it seemed most likely that is where he came from."

Mr Presdee said the bat was about two inches long with a six-inch wing span and was brown and furry with quite a big mouth.

A spokesman for English Nature, which collected the bat on Monday evening, said it was a common pipistrelle and was often found in houses in this area.

Great care had been taken in this particular case because of the possibility it could have been bought back from Europe. That possibility has now been ruled out and the bat returned to its more natural woodland habitat.

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