Michelle Bean began feeding hedgehogs with her neighbours in Houghton-le-Spring, which attracted a large male cat, now called Billy Big, to the area.

Billy Big one day brought a smaller female cat along with him and, slowly but surely, over the coming months litters of kittens began to appear.

The back-garden colony grew to 16 cats, and Michelle realised she needed help.

Feral cat populations need to be controlled, or they will grow exponentially and negatively impact the quality of life and survival rate of the colony.

“We already tried loads of charities around, but to no avail, and then we got put in touch with Kay from Consett Cat Rescue,” Michelle said.

Consett Cat Rescue’s Kay Lyness said: “The one passion I have got in life is neutering cats. I just think these cats deserve better.”

Video produced by Alex Challies & Evie Lake.