AS we hurtle head-first into the 21st century, some factories and paper mills of Radcliffe and Bury's yesteryear have been left derelict, with many facing closure.

They were often home to families of stray and wild cats, attracted by the promise of food supplied by the workers.

With nowhere and often no one to turn to, the prospect for these animals was pretty bleak, with starvation a near certainty.

Thankfully these cats had an unsung hero in one plucky Radcliffe lady, Sylvia Cunningham.

Sylvia (55), of Bury Road, at first had no interest in cats.

"I was more of a dog person," she says. "It wasn't until my husband brought a stray home that I first got hooked on them."

Her feline love affair dates back 20 years when, in 1979, she saw an ad for the Cats Protection League in her local vets.

" It asked if anyone was interested in helping out rescuing wild and stray cats around Bury and Radcliffe," she said.

One of Sylvia's first rescue missions was at the paper recyling plant, Swinnerton's in York Steet, Bury. "That was 12 years ago and I've still got Tabatha, one of the kittens I rescued there," she said.

After Swinnerton's, Sylvia rescued the cat population from the East Lancashire paper mill in Radcliffe.

"While these places do have a number of stray cats, the majority are feral," she said." Feral cats are virtually wild and have to be touched before they reach six weeks old or it becomes very hard to tame them."

When a large part of Prestwich Hospital was closed, Sylvia came to the rescue of the cats that called the place home. "An old lady contacted me who used to feed them," she said. "She was worried that they may become entrapped under all the rubble of the demolished buildings."

The initial figure of six feral cats at the hospital turned into 60 and took Sylvia three years to rescue them, from 1995 to 1997.

After being neutered they went to Windyways animal shelter in Macclesfield and Bleakholt at Ramsbottom.

"Feral cats are extremely hard to catch," said Sylvia. "They are very clever and are often one step ahead.

"This job requires a lot of patience as it can become very frustrating at times."

Patience is not the only prerequisite for rescuing feral cats; a certain amount of courage is also involved.

"One of the cats at Prestwich Hospital, who I called Daisy, had brought her kittens out of the rubble," recalled Sylvia.

"I tried to pick them up and Daisy sunk her teeth in my ankles."

Daisy is now a resident at Windyways and although not tame she now lets Sylvia stroke her, which is a big improvement from when she was found.

Not all the cats Sylvia rescues go to animal shelters. As well as Tabatha she also has three of Prestwich Hospital's ex-residents Clarence, Clara and Josh as well as Sooty from the RSPCA and a dog, Jodie.

If there is one message Sylvia has for cat lovers in Radcliffe and Bury it is to always have thier pets neutered because, as she says, the cat population is large enough already.