A CAT rescuer is urgently appealing for more food to feed a fast growing number of feline mouths.

Maureen Savage, who runs Moggies Cat Rescue charity from her home in Stansfield Street, Darwen, has been inundated with unwanted cats and kittens.

She usually has a maximum of 12 cats to look after before they are re-housed but she is currently caring for 25, which will soon multiply when two pregnant cats give birth any day.

After Christmas the cat sanctuary now has double and soon to be triple the maximum number of pets - so many that Maureen has been forced to re-arrange her furniture to make room for them all.

Maureen, who also works as a nurse, said the numbers could exceed her highest ever numbers this Christmas because the kittens she receives annually as a result of unwanted Christmas presents have not even arrived yet.

She said: "So far the numbers are from cats abandoned on the run up to Christmas. More people go away for Christmas these days and cannot afford to put their cats in a cattery. So some people sadly abandon them and others mistakingly think they will be able to fend for themselves but they wander off in search for food away from their home and I rescue them.

"I picked up some from Hoddlesden on Christmas Eve. They had just been left. A neighbour called me to say these cats had just arrived close to her house. I am worried because I have so many already and when the babies come it will be the usual Christmas overload which is hard enough to cope with. But I have not had the unwanted gifts yet.

"They will keep coming after the new year. I don't know how I'll cope. I have already had to move furniture upstairs to make way for more pens."

Maureen is appealing for tins or sachets of cat food or even unwanted presents that she can sell to buy food.

But she is also hoping to find cat lovers willing to adopt some of the homeless cats.

All the animals are ready for adoption and have been neutered and fully vaccinated.

To help, call Maureen at Moggies Cat Rescue on 01254 708171.