Manchester City Council has launched an urgent investigation after a bin bag full of severed cats' heads was found on a street near the city’s famous Curry Mile.

The gruesome discovery was made by a council worker who had been sent to investigate fly-tipping complaints in the Rusholme area.

The bin bag’s contents were revealed in a memo sent to councillors and council officials, which described the findings as “cat heads”. The Chairman of the local Conservative Association, Stephen Woods, told the Manchester Evening News [MEN] everyone was “flabbergasted” when they received the news.

“It’s absolutely disgraceful the way they have been treated,” he said.

The animal remains were condemned as “an extreme example of animal cruelty” by Manchester City Council, who said an investigation into the “sickening” incident is now underway.

In a statement, it said: “A member of our team was called to an address in Rusholme earlier today [Friday] and discovered a fly-tipped black bin-liner containing animal remains.

“This is obviously an incredibly distressing and sickening incident which we are now looking into but this is the first incident of its kind we have come across.

“At this stage we have no way of knowing how these animal parts came to be where they were discovered but we will be contacting the RSPCA as this is clearly an extreme example of animal cruelty.”

A council spokesman confirmed to The Independent that police have been notified.

RSPCA Chief Inspector Cathy Hyde appealed for anyone who may have information on the incident to come forward.

She said: "This sounds like a very distressing incident, especially for the people who found the remains.

"Thankfully reports like this are extremely rare and we will liaise with the local authority to look into this further.