Seventeen cats were abandoned in an empty Chippenham house with a note from the owner saying sorry.

The owner, a 44-year-old man, was evicted from Heathfield this week because of his anti-social behaviour.

He took his two Staffordshire terrier dogs with him but left the house overrun with cats and kittens. Some are still nursing and are thought to be as young as three weeks.

When landlord GreenSquare Housing turned up on Tuesday morning they found all the cats along with the note saying sorry and that he was not a bad man.

Cats Action Trust volunteer Heather Derrick, who was called upon to help, said: “They were in a terrible state, absolutely full of fleas.

“It’s the most I’ve dealt with all together. It was terrible to see them like that, heartbreaking.”

PC Ashleigh Jones, of Wiltshire Police, said: “We called the RSPCA but they said the animals hadn’t been alone for 24 hours and it was the responsibility of GreenSquare.

“If it wasn’t for Cats Action Trust we would have been in a very difficult situation. She and her husband were absolutely amazing. They identified the mother of the young ones and she was gutted they didn’t have the capacity to take more.”

Thirteen were taken to Bromham where they have been given temporary accommodation by Chris Wordley, 72, chairman of Cats Action Trust.

There is a mixture of males and females and it is not known if they have been neutered. The North Wiltshire based charity, which has 14 volunteers, now has nearly 40 cats to find homes for.

Mrs Derrick, 70, who lives on the Pew Hill estate in Chippenham and looks after 15 cats, said: “I hope we can find some people who love cats and can give them the time and the home they deserve.

“We never have a cat put down until it is really really necessary and we home check all our fosterers.”

The remaining four animals have found homes through friends and staff of GreenSquare.