Craig Rogers made a piece of natural history when he discovered a barely alive bat clinging to a fence.

Craig and his family took the creature indoors to warm it up and then called on bat experts for help.

It was then he discovered the ailing bat was a member of a species that was officially declared extinct in Britain ten years ago.

Now Craig's discovery has sparked hopes there may be a colony of mouse-eared bats still living some-where in West Sussex.

Craig's discovery has been described as "incredible" by Amy Coyte, chief executive of the Bat Conservation Society, whose patron is botanist and TV personality David Bellamy.

But unfor-tunately, the female of the species he found in the garden of his Bognor home died three days later.

The location of the discovery is not being revealed for fear enthusiastic amateurs might disturb other hibernating bats.

Now conser-vationists plan to scour the area in the summer to see if the mouse-eared creature was a member of a colony that has survived against the odds.

Miss Coyte said the species had disap-peared mainly because of intensive farming methods and pesticides, which had destroyed many of the insects that make up their diet.

She said: "We hope there are more of them in the area."

Craig, a pupil at Bognor Regis Community College, said he felt proud he had discovered such a special bat.