RSPCA Cymru has received more than 600 reports of animals found severely injured, trapped, mutilated, choked or even killed by carelessly discarded litter over the past four years in Wales.

The animal welfare charity said incidents it had dealt with included a hedgehog entangled in barbed wire, a fox cub with litter caught around its neck and a great black-backed gull whose leg was almost severed by a fishing line. 

RSPCA anti-litter campaigns manager Carrie Stones said: “Our rescuers deal with thousands of avoidable incidents every year where animals have been impacted by litter.