The Woodland Trust has issued an urgent please not to dump pumpkins in woodland this autumn, due to potential harmful effects.

Paul Bunton, engagement and communications officer at the charity said: ‘a myth seems to have built up that leaving pumpkins in woods helps wildlife but pumpkin flesh can be dangerous for hedgehogs, attracts colonies of rats and also has a really detrimental effect on woodland soils, plants and fungi.’

The Woodland Trust has tips on its website on how spooky leftovers can be best used (such as making pumpkin birdfeeder for the garden) at: www.woodlandtrust.org.uk