A CROSS Roads-based charity which takes in kittens and cats in dire straits is looking after a family of strays rescued from a precarious location.

Yorkshire Cat Rescue is caring for four kittens and their mother who had been living on the roof of a building.

They were first noticed by a pair of dog walkers on June 17 after a kitten which had fallen off the roof was spotted in some bushes.

Karina Taylor of Your Dog Walker and Jo-Anne Robinson of Tail Waggers Pet Care, managed to catch the kitten that had fallen and this was placed with one of Yorkshire Cat Rescue's foster carers.

But the three remaining kittens and their mother still on the roof required a delicate rescue operation to bring them to safety.

A tenant of the property, which is in Leeds, helped Karina and Jo-Anne climb a ladder to reach the old boiler room where the animals were hiding.

The dog walkers deployed a trap and some enticing food, but it took three days of patient effort to capture the frightened cat and her remaining kittens.

The kittens will stay in foster care until they are old enough to be neutered, vaccinated and put up for adoption.

Their mother will stay at Yorkshire Cat Rescue's re-homing centre until a permanent, caring new owner can be found for her.

Charity founder Sara Atkinson, said: "Because of Karina and her friends, the kittens now won't have to grow up feral, but will be raised in the safety of a home and adopted by loving families in the near future.

"If everyone were as vigilant and prepared to take action or call for help, we'd probably begin to see a reduction in Britain's stray cat population."