A HAMSTER who was found dumped in a bin bag has captured the hearts of council staff.

The furry friend was rescued from a cage which had been left in a pile of fly-tipped rubbish in Tunnel Street, Burnley.

Staff at Burnley Council's Contact Burnley call centre adopted the hamster and initially named it Brian after the council officer who found it.

But he' was later discovered to be a she' - and a pregnant one at that. So she has been re-named Brioni.

She has been appointed mascot of the call centre and it is hoped that she will soon be enrolled on to the council's outreach team, helping staff teach schoolchildren about the refuse department's work.

A resident in Tunnel Street had called the council to tell them about fly-tipping near her home.

The resident told customer services worker Amanda Baron that her husband had spotted a cage among the rubbish, and believed the hamster was still inside.

Amanda alerted the staff to the tiny animal and ensured that she was rescued before the rest of the rubbish was tipped in to the bin wagon.

Brioni was originally named after the council's pest control officer Brian Ramsden who was sent out to find the hamster.

Customer services manager Sharon Hargraves said: "We've no idea how long Brioni was dumped out in the street but it looks like she'd been chewing the bin bag because there were bits of plastic in her bedding.

"Now she's enjoying the good life at the contact centre and she's quite happy to roll around the back offices in her plastic ball."

Sharon said she and her colleagues had been sickened about the fact that the hamster had been dumped.

She said: "She was treated just like a piece of rubbish which is horrible. It just shows the mindless attitude of people who dump their rubbish without a care or thought for others.

"Everyone here has really taken her to heart and she's been a very popular addition to the team - she's our mascot now. And, of course, we're all really grateful to Amanda for going above and beyond her job and making sure Brioni was rescued."