Please, please remember the hedgehogs this Bonfire Night - Hayley Matthews

With Guy Fawkes Night upon us it's a difficult time for wildlife. Please, please remember to check your bonfires for hedgehogs and other animals who may be sleeping and hibernating. They get cosy in piles of leaves and not checking a bonfire before lighting it can have devastating consequences.

I say it every year but when filming with the SSPCA once, I was told a story of animals and hedgehogs trapped in a huge bonfire, running out screaming for their lives. It has haunted me since. It's especially crucial to check for hedgehogs as our spiky little friends are rapidly on the decline.

The British Hedgehog Preservation Society puts out some friendly advice at this time of year, including not building your bonfire until the same day it is due to be lit.. The longer it’s left, the more likely that a hedgehog will find its way in.

If you build your bonfire in advance, make sure you place chicken wire one-metre high all the way around the bottom to make it more difficult for hedgehogs to get into the wood.

If you have stored materials for your bonfire outdoors, you can move them to a different patch of ground before you start building the fire

And always place the bonfire on open ground, but never on a pile of leaves as a hedgehog may hide underneath.

Also, use a torch to look and listen out for a hissing sound, which hedgehogs make when they are disturbed or distressed. If you light your bonfire in a corner, hedgehogs will get a chance to escape.

And most importantly, let's have a safe Fifth of November!