SIR – May I make an urgent appeal on behalf of our local wild birds, especially the small songbirds, of whose numbers the exceptionally long and unremitting periods of sub-zero temperatures will have already taken a terrible toll.

For below-freezing temperatures and rock-hard ground to persist uninterruptedly for so long creates a desperate situation for all wildlife, and especially for small insect-eaters such hedge-sparrows, robins, blackbirds and thrushes.

It will be many weeks before there is even a modest supply of food for them and they need to eat their own weight in high-protein food just to last one night. All those who fail to find enough will tuck their heads under their wings at night to sleep and will never awake.

For the insect-eaters, the best substitute is tinned cat food. I am currently putting out a whole tin every day and it is all gobbled up very quickly.

But stale (not mouldy) bread, bits of cake, superannuated mince pies, out-of-date crisps, boiled potatoes and any other carbohydrate foods will help to keep at least some of these tiny creatures alive through what is surely the cruellest British winter for decades.

Noel A Shaw, Thornton Road, Thornton