Firefighters help find five stray kittens in Birmingham

Firefighter James Davies and watch commander John Williams helped volunteers from Cats Protection catch the kittens

Thermal imaging cameras were used by firefighters to help find stray kittens after a charity asked for aid.

Cats Protection asked for help to find the strays which they knew were on scrubland in Bearwood, Birmingham.

They made contact with Oldbury Fire Station, which brought down the cameras and, with a neighbour's help, the five kittens were found in a nearby shed.

The cats have since been named after characters from children's series Fireman Sam.

The four boys and one girl have been dubbed Steele, Elvis, Boyce, Sam and Penny and will be put up for adoption soon.

The kittens, named Steele, Elvis, Boyce, Sam and Penny will go up for adoption soon

It said volunteers Emma Bailey and Kerrie Fisher were aware a feral cat had given birth to kittens on wasteland and wanted to capture them to give them a chance of being rehomed, as feral kittens older than eight weeks cannot be domesticated.

But, it said, they had trouble tracking them and asked the firefighters for assistance on Thursday.

Cats Protection said the feral kittens needed to be caught, as they could not be rehomed after they reached eight weeks old

"The firefighters were on hand to help coax the kittens out to allow Emma and Kerrie to catch them," a spokesman said.

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Volunteers are working on bringing in their mother who, once caught, will be neutered and taken to stables where she can live outdoors.