The RSPCA has revealed it received more than 1,700 calls to its cruelty hotline last Christmas from concerned residents in Suffolk and Essex.

The calls related to animals in distress and were all made between December 1 and December 31, 2017.

In Essex there were 1,247 reports of animals in distress between December 1 and December 31, with a further 468 calls made by people in Suffolk.

In the wake of these figures the national charity is launching its Christmas appeal calling for donations to help maintain their many animal rescue centres, which cost an average of £750,000 a year to run.

RSPCA chief executive Chris Sherwood said: “We would not be able to help the thousands of animals we rescue, re-home and rehabilitate every Christmas without the public’s generous support.

“What people perhaps don’t realise is that after each animal is brought to warmth and safety, they sometimes face weeks and months of vital care, whether that is someone to hand-rear a kitten through the night, vital surgery for an abused dog, rehabilitation for an injured gull, or simply a warm bed and food for a neglected or abandoned animal.

“This Christmas we are asking people to Stock the Sleigh for the RSPCA, and help us to care for the thousands of animals we know that, sadly, will continue to come through our doors this festive season.”

People can give gifts of care, safety and comfort to desperate animals this Christmas by stocking the RSPCA’s virtual sleigh.

Donations of £3 can pay for a toy for an animal in care while £7 pays for a blanket to keep them warm this winter.

A larger donation of £48 could provide vital medical care and medicines for an injured or sick animal.

Nationally the charity dealt with more than 5,000 animals last December and 642 animals were being looked after across the East England alone on Christmas Day.

Across England the charity answered some 43,000 calls to the animal cruelty hotline, meaning that around 4% of all calls made to the charity in the festive season came from Suffolk and Essex.