
A whole forest of abandoned and unwell animals are finding themselves back on their feet again thanks to the tireless work of an army of Somerset volunteers.

The county's Secret World Wildlife Rescue centre is coming to the aid of 5,500 sick, injured and orphaned animals each year, offering them care, support and treatment before releasing them back into their natural habitats.

As the figures show, the sanctuary has become a lifeline for hundreds of animals a month.

And that's not escape the 600 dedicated volunteers who do everything from fostering animals to administration at the centre 24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year.

Their latest recoveries include baby hedgehogs, an owl, badgers cubs and a fawn, all of whom have been nursed to full health and can now enjoy a life back in the wilderness.

The road to today's sanctuary began back in 1984 when Pauline and Derek Kidner decided to open their farm as a visitor attraction.

It didn't take long before the public started to bring injured wildlife to Pauline in the hope that they could be cared.

The sanctuary, which was then known as Bluebell Sett - in honour of one of the first badger cubs that Pauline raised - was founded in 1992 to support this wildlife work.

In 2005 it was officially renamed as Secret World Wildlife Rescue after appearing in the popular ITV series 'Secret World'.

These tiny baby hedgehogs were orphaned at birth. The Secret World Wildlife Rescue centre has readied them for life out in the open

A fallow deer can look forward to a steady start in life after being cared for at the sanctuary, which runs with the help of 600 volunteers

The centre does everything, from administration to being hands on with anything that comes their way - including this majestic owl

A vet joins a volunteer in helping perform a check-up on this group of badger cubs, all of whom will be given a clean bill of health

All animals big or small make it along to Secret World , with this baby hedgehog - who is only days old - certainly one of the smallest

This adult hedgehog is carefully anaesthetised prior to being examined. Staff will make sure it is in no pain before releasing it back into the wild