ABANDONED cats and kittens, like these adorable ones pictured, will be kept warm this winter thanks to donated electric blankets.

More than 100 blankets have been donated to the Ipswich branch of Cats Protection as part of Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service’s electric blanket safety campaign and they will be used for bedding.

Colin Spence, Suffolk County Council’s cabinet member for public protection, said: “It really is fantastic that we have been able to recycle the blankets we have collected over the past few months to make them safe in order to go to a good home this winter.”

Ipswich Cats Protection branch co-ordinator David Smith was delighted to receive the blankets.

He said: “What it means is we haven’t got to source them elsewhere. These blankets are very useful to us.

“We cut them up and fosterers can help themselves.

“It’s a nice bit of bedding for the cats, it makes a cosy sort of nest for them.

“It’s a big saving for us and it helps the fire service because they’ve got to dispose of these things and it stops them going to waste.”

Mr Spence added: “I would like to highlight again the importance of getting electric blankets tested.

“It is a huge concern that there are still old electric blankets out there in homes across Suffolk which may not be safe for use and I would encourage anyone with any concerns to come along to one of our testing days.”

These adorable kittens, pictured making good use of the donated blankets, have since found new homes after a lucky escape from a rubbish dump.

Dusty, Rusty and Scrappy, as the trio were dubbed, were found in the rubbish by refuse collectors at Foxhall Household Waste and Recycling Centre in November.

It is believed the kittens were dumped in a bin.

After narrowly escaping being scooped up in a digger, the kittens were taken into foster care by Ipswich Cats Protection branch coordinator David Smith and his wife Sheila until they were nine weeks old.

All three kittens went to new homes shortly before Christmas.

Ginger and white male Rusty and his black and white brother Scrappy found a home together, while female tortoiseshell and white Dusty was rehomed on her own.

There are currently 21 cats in care in Ipswich. To find out more about giving an abandoned cat a new home, visit www.cats.org.uk/ipswich or call 0845 3712069.

Have you got a story about abandoned pets? Write to Your Letters, Ipswich Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or alternatively you can send an e-mail to starletters@archant.co.uk