AN ANIMAL lover whose pet rabbit led her to a litter of stray kittens has appealed for help to find them new homes after local charities said they were to busy to help.

Ayesha Keighley, of Ainslie Close, Great Harwood, discovered the feral cat and its four babies after her bunny Starsky hopped up and down the garden to attract her attention.

She said: "He started acting really strangely, running up to the house from the top of the garden and back again and I realised he was trying to tell me something. I looked behind the fence and found the mother cat and kittens."

The 24-year-old, who works for Advanced Hearing Services in Burnley, has contacted the RSPCA, the Cat Protection Society and other pet rescues throughout the area but they are all full to capacity and cannot take the kittens.

She said: "My neighbour and I have been feeding them every day, but we can't afford to keep looking after them. The kittens are absolutely adorable and it seems a shame that I can't get anyone to come out and take them away.

"They are strays and will need to be trapped because it will be difficult to get them away from the mother, who is now pregnant again."

The RSPCA has put the kittens on its urgent list and will take them at its Holker House Farm rescue, Huncoat, as soon as it can, but a bout of cat flu has prevented them from taking any new cats in and finding any new homes.

The centre also has 54 people on its waiting list who want to bring in animals.

Heather Holmes, from the RSPCA said: "We have asked Ayesha to bear with us, the kittens are on the urgent list for a place. But we have a huge problem with the number of stray kittens because pet owners are not being responsible and neutering their cats.

"We are a charity and we rely on the generosity of the public to keep rescue centres running, and there are strict guidelines as to the number of animals we can take in at any one time."

A spokeswoman for the Cats Protection Society said they were unable to help because they do not have any volunteers in the East Lancashire area who take in animals on their behalf.