WORKERS at a public refuse tip were about to empty a bin from Torfaen when one of them noticed something moving and discovered a litter of kittens.

Thanks to the worker's sharp eyes five tiny kittens are now doing well, being fed every two hours with a syringe of substitute milk.

The kittens were rescued from the bin at Llanfoist Transfer Station and the workmen wrapped them in some football kit and rushed them to the nearest veterinary centre in Abergavenny.

Staff there rang Gwent Cats Protection charity and co-ordinator Glynis Davies found a volunteer to take on the task of hand-rearing the tiny cats who are not yet two weeks old.

Until she arrived to take them nurses at Riverside Veterinary Centre fed the hungry kittens.

Staff at the transfer station checked the bin in which they were found and discovered it belongs to Carpet Madness at the South Pontypool Industrial Park in Panteg Way, New Inn.

When contacted by Cats Protection, the staff were shocked to hear about the new kittens as the mother cat had given birth at the start of the year to an older litter who are still living in the area.

Now Ms Davies is working hard to trap the mother and older kittens to get them all neutered before they reproduce.

The tiny black and white kittens are all girls so if anyone wants to offer one a home they can ring 0845 371 2747.

The kittens will be ready to be homed in six weeks' time when they have had their first vaccination.

The owner of Carpet Madness, Helen Harris, explained that the mother cat obviously sees the shop as a safe place to have her litter, as at Christmas she gave birth to a littler on the premises and Mrs Harris provided the litter with warm bedding and food.

She said: “She must have come back to have another litter here as we always see her but we didn’t know she had had a litter otherwise we would have looked after them.”