Hedgehogs check in to casualty

IT LOOKS as if Mrs Tiggywinkle has invited her family and friends for tea. And their friends, too. More than 80 of the prickly creatures are recuperating at a hedgehog hospital after the mild winter tricked them into missing their annual hibernation, writes Colin Blackstock.

The hedgehogs have been left vulnerable to injury as they forage for food during a period in which they are usually dormant.

They are here, there and absolutely everywhere at Elaine Drewery's home, which doubles as the Hedgehog Care hospital in the Lincolnshire village of Authorpe.

Ms Drewery says she feels sorry for hedgehogs struggling to survive and has looked after some 18,000 of them over the past 14 years.

For visits to Hedgehog Care hospital, call 01507 450221.

PHOTOGRAPH BY MARTIN POPE