A HEDGEHOG rescuer is appealing for residents to send any sick or injured prickly friends her way.

Mavis Righini, of Pickhurst Road, Hayes, is currently caring for 17 hedgehogs and has been looking after spiky hedgerow-dwellers since 1985.

She takes in the animals from Bromley, Lewisham, Greenwich and north Kent, and works closely with the British Hedgehog Preservation Society (BHPS).

Mrs Righini recalls an incident where a dog walker found an abandoned bicycle on the side of the road with a hedgehog wedged in the stokes of the wheel.

Its prickles had stopped it from escaping and it had suffered serious neck injuries.

She said: "She was here with me for six months and I called her Shirley Wheel.

"She was dehydrated as she had been trapped in the open for a very long time in the cold weather.

"This happened in February last year, in the midst of winter, so I had to gently warm her and feed her up. I released her the following August."

Hedgehog numbers are falling and it is thought the warm spells which are increasingly common in British winters leads them to come out of hibernation only to die during a sudden cold snap.

Their habitat is disappearing as woods and hedgerows are being cleared meaning their nests are unprotected.

This is worrying as they are of great benefit to people's gardens as they feed on slugs and snails. If hedgehogs decline - gardeners use poison which can kill birds.

She said: “This is an animal which has been around since the mammoths and sabre-tooth tiger and hasn't changed in all those years. It will be us who destroys them."

If you find an injured hedgehog, visit britishhedgehogs.org.uk or call Mrs Righini on 0208 462 1168.

Hedgehog Facts

They are covered with 5,000 spines.

They can eat at least 40 slugs in one night.

They can jump two feet to catch prey and run at 6 mph.

UK hedgehog numbers are thought to have halved in 15 years to around one million.

Badgers are the only animals with claws strong enough to kill a rolled up hedgehog.

To attract hedgehogs to your garden put branches, cuttings and leaves into a wild area.