STAFF at the RSPCA West Hatch Wildlife Centre are urgently appealing to people from across the West Country to donate to help stricken seabirds recovering at the centre.

They desperately needs towels and donations to pay for fresh fish as they care for a sudden influx of injured rare seabirds.

Staff are currently caring for more than 260 Manx Shearwaters which came into the centre last week after they were rescued by the RSPCA from Newgale beach in Wales, where they were caught up in difficult weather conditions.

It is thought there was a mass landing of the birds on the Pembrokeshire beach, following storms during the early hours of Monday, September 11.

Others were rescued in Cornwall and Devon after the gales and taken to the centre near Taunton.

The birds are undergoing rehabilitation in the hope they can soon be released back to the wild but the team caring for them are pleading for help as they struggle to keep up with the sudden huge demand.

Centre manager Dr Bel Deering said: “People have always been really generous when we make our appeals and we hope they will help us again.

“We are in desperate need of small hand towels and donations to help with the cost of feeding them.”