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A high number of hedgehogs with life-threatening broken legs have been brought to Leatherhead 's Wildlife Aid this autumn.

It is not known how the unfortunate hedgehogs became injured but they are being cared for at the charity with their legs bandaged up before being operated on by a specialist orthopaedic vet.

Simon Cowell, founder of Wildlife Aid, said although the autumn is always a difficult time of year for hedgehogs, the amount of injured ones has far outstripped any previous year.

"This is the first year we have had eight hedgehogs brought into us with broken legs," he said.

"This time of year is always particularly tough for hedgehogs as there are a lot of second brood youngsters around who are struggling to put on weight in time for winter hibernations.

"But we can't work out why this has been so bad for hedgehogs with broken legs, we don't think it has anything to do with climate change at this time and we can't make any sense of it.

"It is possibly because of the attention the decline in hedgehog numbers has been getting and now people are looking out for them more and bringing them in to use which would be great news."

The hedgehogs, who have been brought in from around the country, are cared for at the centre on Randalls Road, with all of them being x-rayed to assess the damage to their legs and work out appropriate treatment.

Mr Cowell said that this sort of injury to their back legs can often prove fatal.

"All of the hedgehogs will have to have operations from a specialist orthopaedic surgeon to repair their back legs," he said.

"Their back legs are especially important as they use them to scratch behind their ears. If they can't do this then they can get mites that cause terrible infections that often kill them."

'Go through bonfires'

Bonfire night can also be a very dangerous time for hedgehogs with many perishing in bonfires each year after they crawl into them in search of somewhere warm.

Mr Cowell appealed to people to think of hedgehogs when they are setting up their bonfires this year.

He said: "We would ask everyone having a bonfire this weekend to just turn it over and go through it an hour before you light it.

"Particularly after the frost we have been having in the last few days they will have been looking for somewhere warm to go and a big pile of firewood would be perfect."