A RESCUE centre set up to help support hedgehogs has had an influx of orphaned animals due to the hot weather.

Pickering Hedgehog Rescue was set up earlier this year to help protect the dwindling number of hedgehogs.

Organiser Deryn Hagemann said: “With the hot weather, we have had an influx of babies needing specialist feeding and care.

“There are currently 22 hoglets, 19 of them orphans and six adults with the rescue centre.

“Many have suffered from dehydration and fly strike, a devastating combination for these tiny creatures.”

The hoglets have come from various places, with the first triplets arriving after their mother was knocked and killed on the road.

“They needed five hours of intensive and back-breaking cleaning to remove all the fly eggs which covered them,” she said.

“It’s vital any hedgehog found in the open is not just left, if they are out in the daytime and not moving quickly they are in distress of some kind. They are so vulnerable in the current heat and can die so quickly if left."