FOUR kittens dumped on a doorstep in a cardboard box are being cared for by would-be veterinary nurses until they can be found loving homes.

The kittens - three are black and one black and white - are about eight weeks old and were left at a house in Durham on Bonfire Night.

They were then taken to a local vets and then passed to the Durham City and District branch of Cat Protection.

But the charity's volunteer fosterers are inundated with abandoned cats at the moment, so the kittens are now at the small animal unit at Houghall College where they are looked after by students training to be veterinary nurses.

A spokeswoman for Cat Protection said the charity was hoping to find good homes for the kittens and added that it had vouchers towards the cost of getting cats spayed or neutered, which would help reduce the number of unwanted kittens being born.

She said: "If people still can't afford the cost of getting the operation done, we do have other ways of helping with the cost.''

Helen Wilcox, an animal health technician at Houghall, said: "They have settled in very well. They have really come out of themselves.

"They were a bit hissy at first, but now they are running about and loving all the fuss. The students are allowed to play with them, feed them and clean them.''

Anyone wanting to give the kittens a home, or wanting more information about vouchers, is asked to call 0191-386 8211.