Ashford council has collected more than 170 dead animals from the borough’s roads and streets over the past three years.

The authority was mostly called out to collect badgers - with 69 of the creatures being picked up between June 2011 and May 2013.

Sadly, the second largest proportion of animals found by council workers was domestic cats, with 53 being collected.

The third highest was foxes with 46 being found, while they picked up just three dogs from Ashford’s roads.

The most unusual collections included a deer on the A251 in August 2011, three badgers and a barn owl on the B2067 at Woodchurch in March last year and a sack full of dead pigeons at Knoll Lane, Singleton in June last year.

A council spokesman said: “If the animal is microchipped we would contact the owner and ask them if they would like to collect the animal, otherwise they are disposed of at landfill.”