Four ex-commercial hens have been given a new home, and will now be cared for by poet, writer and comedian Pam Ayres.

Pam, a patron of the British Hen Welfare Trust, took in the birds at the end of April, and they will now live happily in Pam's orchard in Gloucestershire.

She said: "I’ve re-homed these girls, and I’ve done it before, it is tremendously rewarding.

"These are just out of their cages and they are pretty poor looking, but when they’ve been here in this nice orchard for a few weeks with fresh air and sunshine you’d be astounded by the difference.

"And they’re going to lay lots of eggs for me so it’s well worth doing. It’s also a humane thing to do as well so they get a second chance.

“So if you’ve got space for a couple of hens and you’d like to give them a nice home after their long period in cages, just get in touch with us.”

Pam became a patron of the charity, which re-homes around 50,000 ex-bats a year, in 2006.

Established in 2005 by Jane Howorth, the British Hen Welfare Trust is Britain's first registered charity for re-homing laying hens.