LOVING homes are needed for two lop-eared white rabbits which were wrapped in a bag and left for dead in a flooded allotment.

The two female rabbits, Lily and Flurry, are believed to be sisters and are being cared for at the Farplace Animal Sanctuary, in Upper Weardale, County Durham.

They were abandoned in a small box wrapped in a bag at an allotment in Stanley, County Durham, after flash floods had turned the ground into a quagmire.

"It was lucky they were found that day. If they had been left another 24 hours, it might have been too late," said Jan Edwards, manager of the sanctuary.

"They were brought to us by a couple who found them about three weeks ago. The rabbits were cold and wet, and the couple did a great job in warming them up and feeding them.

"We've spent the past three weeks getting them fit and well. They are lovely animals and quite nice to handle already, a little nervous, but there are no obvious health problems and they are just about ready to be re-homed."

The Farplace sanctuary is a non-profit making organisation, which takes care of all types of unwanted animals.

It has a strict no-kill policy, which means they will spend any amount of money to keep an animal alive if there is a chance it will have a good standard of life.

"We have taken in 58 rabbits this year and more than 70 cats. We didn't really have room for these two, but we would never turn them away," said Ms Edwards. "There is no excuse for dumping an animal and there are always other options, even if they just drop it off at the front door of a sanctuary.

"We usually ask that people leaving animals fill in a form, but we don't insist and we don't ask questions - our concern is for the welfare of the animal."

Farplace is applying for charitable status and is run entirely on donations and volunteer staff.

Anyone who can help with the re-homing of an animal is asked to visit www.farplace.co.uk or call 01388-517397.