A North Walsham couple are encouraging people to take care of wildlife by feeding the hedgehogs that visit their gardens overnight.

Barbara Watts, 68, and her husband Steve, have been feeding the five or six nocturnal visitors to their home in Ellinor Road.

Mrs Watts said: 'We feed them every night.

'We have three in the garden, one under the shed, and two that come and go.

'One runs across the road at about 2.30am every night and comes in under the gate.'

She added: 'We feed them Sainsbury's chicken dog food.

'I left a bowl of Tesco dog food and they never ate it.

'They also eat little chicken dog biscuits.

'My advice to anyone with a hedgehog in their garden is to make sure to put dog food out and plenty of water down.

'Don't use slug pellets as these are bad for wildlife.'

Data from the British Hedgehog Preservation Society indicates a fall in the species' population of between 30 to 50pc since 2000.