EDF wind turbines on a farm in southern France have been ordered to shut down after a court ruled they were to blame for killing scores of protected birds and bats.

In what bird lovers are calling a landmark ruling, the Montpellier court held EDF Renouvelables and nine of its subsidiaries responsible for the deaths of 160 bats and birds, especially lesser kestrels, which regularly collide with the blades despite deterrents put in place by operators.

Their numbers have seen a recent worrying decline in Europe, as have those of Montagu’s harriers and bats.

The court ordered the shutdown of all 31 wind turbines on a plateau of garrigue, or scrubland, overlooking the Mediterranean for the four-month period over the summer when the birds remain in France after migrating from Africa.

The wind farm has been in operation since 2006 and generates the annual electricity needs of 60,000 people. 

The Aumelas plateau was awarded the Natura 2000 label in 2016, which advocates the protection of areas that are representative of European biodiversity.