A bat rescue centre is appealing for cat owners to keep their pets inside at dawn and dusk after an influx of injured animals.

Sally Humphreys, of Upton-based East Dorset Bat Rescue and Rehabilitation, is nursing 10 bats, including a number of rarer species - seven of which have injuries from cat attacks.

The protected animal is in sharp decline due to loss of habitat, climate change and new agricultural and building techniques - with some experts estimating populations are down by 75 per cent.

Sally said: "Bats produce just one young - and they may not breed every year. Every female bat is so important. Within a few decades the damage we've done, without realising it, is going to take the bats hundreds of years to come back from. They reproduce so slowly and 50 per cent of babies will not make it through hibernation.

"If people will only keep their cats indoors from May to December at dawn and dusk it will make such a difference."

Wet and windy weather, which means fewer insects for the bats to feed on, is also hitting them hard.

Sally, who is licensed to handle bats and is affiliated to the Bat Conservation Trust, take in some 40 animals a year. Despite the fact vets at Ark Aid in Canford Heath give their time free of charge, treatment can cost hundreds, so fundraising is vital.

Sally urged people finding injured bats to wear gardening gloves and scoop them up with a tea towel, before putting them in a ventilated box with water and to then call the experts. The Bat Conservation Trust is on 0845 1300 228. For more information about bat rescue, or to help raise money, contact Sally Humphreys on 07746 743221.