Bonfire builders preparing for November 5th are being warned that they could be burning Britain’s favourite mammal, the hedgehog, as well as Guy Fawkes next week.

This is the time of the year when hedgehogs search for a nice warm place to spend their winter hibernation and a large pile of bonfire material can seem to fit the bill to perfection.

So the British Hedgehog Protection Society is appealing to bonfire night organisers to search the base of their fires before setting them alight. Ideally, they should store their fire material in a different place to be moved to the actual burning site at the last minute.

The society calls bonfires “hedgehog hotels” and fears that many die awful deaths in this way ever year. The hedgehog – Mr Prickles of children’s stories – was voted our favourite mammal in a survey several years ago.

Sadly, it is under threat from road traffic, garden tools like strimmers, and cattle grids which, unless they have an escape stairway built in, can become a death trap to the little beasts – they starve in their concrete prison if they fall in.