Baby hedgehogs helped by knitted friends

Loreen Knight started knitting hedgehogs after finding one in her garden in Caddington, Bedfordshire

A woman who has been knitting hedgehogs in aid of a sanctuary looking after the animals said she had "lost count" of how many she had created.

Loreen Knight has crafted hundreds of mini hedgehogs to raise funds for the Hornbeam Wood Hedgehog Sanctuary in Harpenden, Hertfordshire.

"Every time I finish knitting one, I think: 'Good, that's another one that won't starve or is going to be looked after'," she said.

Martin Maylin, the sanctuary's founder, said hedgehogs "really need help".

"They're on the red list. The population in urban areas has fallen by 50%. Every year, we rescue 350," he said.

The Hornbeam Wood Hedgehog Sanctuary rescues 350 hedgehogs a year

Ms Knight said her daily habit of knitting hedgehogs started when she saw something in her garden in Caddington, Bedfordshire.

"I saw this brown lump and thought it was a dead baby fox. It started moving and I realised it was a hedgehog, a big boy – about a foot wide.

"So I started doing a lot of research on them and they're fascinating."

She said children "absolutely loved" her knitted designs and they were selling as quickly as she could make them.

"[Mr Maylin] can sell a whole bag in a day," she said.

The hedgehogs will be on sale at stalls and fairs around Hertfordshire during Hedgehog Awareness Week.

Mr Maylin said people should allow access for hedgehogs in their gardens by creating a 13cm (5in) hole in a wall or fence.

"Habitat creation is also great – leave a pile of leaves at back of garden, stack up some twigs," he added.