POLICE are investigating a spate of suspected cat poisonings in Rishton.

Around half a dozen pets have become ill and been taken to vets by distressed owners from the Walmsley Avenue, Station Road and Shaw Brook Close area.

Inspector Bob Ford of Great Harwood police said: "The symptoms appear to be consistent with some sort of poisoning, but we have no idea what the cause is.

"There is a thought it could be linked to the use of things like weed killer, either in domestic gardens or elsewhere."

Police are liaising with the RSPCA and British Transport Police regarding a possible spillage on the nearby railway line, and Hyndburn environmental health department.

Inspector Ford added: "We acknowledge the distress it causes cat owners. "There is always the possibility that whatever is causing the problem for cats could be available to children, which is obviously of great concern, and we are doing all we can to establish the cause."

Most of the cats affected are still being treated.

Two belong to Steven and Jackie Roberts, who live in Walmsley Avenue.

The family took Yeltsin and Sooty to a 24-hour veterinary surgery in Clitheroe, where both pets are under sedation.

Mr Roberts, a leading firefighter at Blackburn fire station, said: "They were both showing exactly the same symptoms. I don't hold out much hope for them.

"I was concerned enough to think someone was perhaps using something somewhere in the vicinity so I rang the police and they told me there had been a number of incidents in the immediate area."

Police advised owners to keep an eye on their pets and seek veterinary advice should they show any symptoms.

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