A young blackbird is hoped to recover after getting its leg stuck in a metal mousetrap, leaving it severely injured.

The juvenile bird is expected to lose its leg after it was discovered in Gorleston on Friday morning with the contraption still attached.

It was rushed to Foxy Lodge Wildlife Centre in Hemsby where it was given treatment but its limb could not be saved as the bone was shattered so badly.

But John and Tonia Garner, who run the animal rescue charity, are hoping the youngster will pull through and be able to survive in the wild with one leg.

John said: 'His bone is shattered above the foot to the extent that it's un-fixable.

'We have treated it but we know the foot is dead and in two to three weeks it will come detached and the leg part will heal.

'We know a bird can survive on one leg in the wild, the only thing is with a bird of this size and being a baby it can get septicaemia or just die of the pain or the shock.

'We hope he can pull through.'

The blackbird is the second animal to have been brought to Foxy Lodge this year after being injured by a spring loaded mousetrap. A hedgehog with a trap around his neck was recently brought in and went on to make a full recovery.

The couple are now urging people to consider using alternative devices.

'The trap was a relatively small one but there are bigger ones available and something like that left in the wrong place can trap all sorts of wildlife,' John added.

'There are more humane ways to control mice; you can catch them in a trap which catches them live and have them humanely destroyed.'