AN orphaned baby hedgehog found a cosy bed for the winter after kind-hearted children rescued it from a roadside in Reeth.

The young members of the Hall family, who live in the village, tucked the tiny creature in a makeshift bed by the kitchen fire and plan to release it back into the wild in the spring.

Mr Rod Hall, their father, sought advice from St Tiggywinkle's, the national hedgehog hospital, which sent information on how to care for the animal, which the family has christened Norman. Reeth vet Mr Paul Roger checked the youngster over and pronounced it healthy and with no sign of the lung worm which often affects hedgehogs.

"It is absolutely beautiful and weighs only about 4oz," said Mr Hall. "The children were just walking along the road when they spotted it and brought it home. It is likely to be from a second litter and abandoned by its mother.

"If it hibernated now, it would be too small to survive so we are hand rearing it and will keep it through the winter. We are feeding it on cat food and have made it a bed in a box by the fire, with a hot water bottle."

In the spring, the family intend to release the creature in a herb garden created by Mr Hall near the house a few years ago.

"It is a wild animal and we don't want it to get too domesticated but it should survive in the wild next year because hedgehogs have no natural predators and are quite hardy little animals."