A spike in the number of baby hedgehogs requiring rescuing has led to an appeal by an animal lover.

Ingrid Cole’s Kemsley home has become a refuge for creatures since she set up Swale Wildlife Rescue about four years ago.

Her garage is a sanctuary for numerous bundles of fur and feathers, including squirrels, rabbits and pigeons.

The number of new arrivals fluctuates but the latest have put pressure on the limited space available.

“We’ve had 12 baby hedgehogs in the last week,” said Ingrid. “They’ve come from vets and members of the public.

“It’s fairly normal for them to have a second lot of babies at this time of year but when the temperature goes down, the instinct of the parents is to hibernate and they just leave their babies.

“This happens every year – we had 35 to 40 last winter – but I’ve got a horrible feeling it’s going to be a bad winter for hedgehogs.”

To cater for the influx, Ingrid, who gave up her job at the Pet Shop in Sittingbourne to devote all her time to rescuing wildlife, said she would be grateful for donations of any unwanted indoor rabbit hutches, which are ideal for the tiny hogs.

“They’ll stay here until the spring,” she added. “They’re on a diet of smooth peanut butter and crumbled up digestive biscuits, which helps them put on weight. They also eat cat food, mealworms and dry kitten food.”

The organisation is also in need of a replacement incubator, a vital piece of equipment for reviving the fortunes of fledglings and babies.

“The same model we have now costs £400 if we bought a new one,” Ingrid said. “We use it all-year round – it’s a crucial part of what we do.

“Any donations would be gratefully received.”

Most of the wildlife taken in has been injured or abandoned and is released once it has recovered.

There are some permanent residents who would not survive in the wild.

They include a pair of little owls, known as “the Onesies”, because one has only one leg and the other only one eye.