A COLONY of cats that were slowly starving to death at a disused Radcliffe mill have been saved by an animal lover.

But Mrs Sylvia Cunningham (52) is now desperately seeking homes for the strays.

The cats were a familiar feature at Radcliffe Paper Mill on Stand Lane.

Most of them were wild and they were attracted to the site by factory workers who befriended and fed them.

But when the mill's closure was announced last year, its 285-strong workforce was made redundant. And, like the former employees, the felines, too, are feeling the effect of the shutdown of the factory.

Mrs Cunningham, of Bury Road, Radcliffe, said: "I was talking to a friend whose husband worked at the mill. She told me that a lot of kittens had been born just before Christmas."

When she went to the site she was horrified by what she saw.

"There were about 18 cats and they were absolutely starving. Some were so weak that they couldn't even stand up properly. The poor things were all thin, scrawny, and undernourished."

Mrs Cunningham set about trapping as many of them as she could and took them to the Cats Protection League for neutering.

But quite a few cats remained at the mill so every day Mrs Cunningham goes to feed them with food donated by friends and charities.

She said: "Bleakholt Animal Sanctuary has said it will take some of them, and I'm looking after three myself, but it is important to find homes for all of them."

She said: "Most of them are feral cats, which means they would be unsuitable as family pets. What I'm hoping for is for people who own a farm or a barn to take them off my hands."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.