A TRIO of tiny kittens left to die on a rubbish dump were saved from freezing to death by a passer-by who heard their pathetic cries for help.

The good samaritan picked the 16-week-old bundles of skin and fur out of a battered cardboard box where they were huddling together for warmth behind garages in The Glebe, West Drayton.

Now, just two weeks later, the three Sooty, Sweep and Sue have been nursed back to health by volunteers at the RSPCA's Uxbridge and Slough branch.

Lucy Clark, of the RSPCA, said: "It was terrible that someone cast them to an uncertain fate. It was obvious they had once been well looked after as they were friendly and responsive kittens but they may have become too much to handle and the owners dumped them. This kind of behaviour is totally unacceptable."

The two male and one female kittens have joined a band of more than 40 cats and kittens abandoned by thoughtless owners over Christmas and the new year.

Anyone interested in adopting a cat or kitten should contact 01895 833417.