A WILDLIFE centre in North Yorkshire has been forced to allow birds to be culled after an outbreak of bird flu at the site.

Whitby Wildlife Sanctuary staff said that the contagious avian influenza was identified after they took in a number of abandoned chickens.

The birds died in isolation shortly after arriving at the centre - and staff had to report the deaths and send the bodies for testing.

Within 24 hours, it was confirmed they had avian influenza and now the rest of the birds within the isolation unit have been euthanised by APHA.

Speaking on Facebook, a spokesperson said: "We are heartbroken to confirm that avian influenza has been found at the sanctuary.

"We recently accepted a group of dumped cockerels, for which we had no history. Unfortunately it seems someone else’s negligence has cost us dearly.

"The person who dumped those chickens, may not have known they carried the flu but the direct effect of that is our birds may need to be culled. If they had acted responsibly we would not be in this situation. As it currently stands APHA have no way of tracing where those birds came from nor what other innocent animals and pets may be at risk."

Until further notice, the sanctuary will not be accepting any new rescues and they are unable to answer rescue calls.

"We hope you appreciate this is a very distressing and upsetting time for us," the spokesperson added.