People in Cornwall have been urged by a wildlife group to check for hedgehogs before lighting bonfires.

The British Society for the Preservation of the Hedgehog has published a three-point checklist to help people minimize the risk to hedgehogs.

The checklist includes stopping to ask if you need a campfire, moving the fire that day, and checking it before lighting it.

Fay Vass, the society’s chief executive, said hedgehogs looking for a “really cozy nest of sticks, leaves and twigs” often thought they had “hit the jackpot and found a five-star hotel for the winter – without – and realize that we will establish light for her”.

“Their defense mechanism is obviously to curl up in a ball and hope the danger passes,” she said.

Speaking on BBC Radio Cornwall, Ms Vass said the society had no data on how many hedgehogs were killed or injured each year because many incidents went unreported.

But she said UK rescue centers were treating hedgehogs for burns, with many having to “be put down”.

She said anyone who finds an injured hedgehog should “put it in a box with food and water” before contacting a local hedgehog rescue centre.