Hillingdon litter pickers find litter of kittens in Ealing

The two-week-old kittens were found dumped in an open plastic bag in the canal and taken to a vet where it was revealed two of them had water in their lungs.

All six were taken home by the vet to be hand-reared after being rescued by two members of the Hillingdon litter picking group, David Posnett and Francis Bell.

Posnett said: “It was a bit of a shock really.

“In this day and age there is just no need to do that.

“I know kittens are quite robust but they really shouldn’t be flailing down the canal

“It was a little emotional but a good ending.”

Posnett and Bell arrived before the rest of the litter picking group on Saturday morning and decided to get a head start.

They were picking at a canal near a bridge in Alperton in Ealing when they saw a large bag filling with water and used a picking stick to reach it.

They assumed it was regular litter but when they looked inside it was full of newborn kittens.

A DIFFERENT TYPE OF LITTER: Posnett wrapped the kittens in his Friends of Union Canal high vis to keep them warm

Posnett said the bag looked like it had only recently gone into the water.

He and Bell counted down the minutes in the car on their way to the vet as they worried the kittens had been exposed to cold water.

Cat-lovers rushed at the chance to offer the kittens a new home when Friends of the Union Canal posted a picture.

Some even suggested the kittens be named after Wombles characters because litter pickers are often referred to as womblers.

Alongside the hectic activity, Saturday was also Posnett’s birthday.

He said: “It will be a birthday I will remember that’s for sure.”

The planned litter picking event still went ahead and the group was more determined than ever after finding the kittens and they ended up collecting around 80 bags of litter.

The vet checked in with Posnett on Sunday morning to say all six kittens were doing well.