Three lambs which were ‘destined for the dinner table’ have been saved by a kind-hearted mum who adopted them as pets.

The four-week-old babies were at risk of dying after their mother refused to let them feed.

Farm shop manager Kay Dawson, 59, heard about the lambs’ plight so offered to adopt them as pets.

She has now taken in the lambs, named River, Ruby and Frankie, which she keeps at the Farm Shop in Snitterfield, near Stratford-upon-Avon, Warks.

The mum-of-one said: "The lambs would've died if we hadn't taken them in."

"It is horrible to say but they would've probably ended up on a plate. "

"Ruby was a bit weak when we got her, she was the runt of the litter. She's still small but she's doing well."

"The lambs are four weeks old, they came to us from a local farmer who couldn't feed them as he had a few sheep who couldn't feed themselves. "

"They needed bottle feeding and his daughter was struggling so we took them on. "

"We don't rescue animals as such but we have also given home to two highland cows who are twins and would have been slaughtered as you can't mate twins."

"We keep all of these animals and children can come and see them and we let them help feed the lambs now. They are the shop’s pets."

"We feed the three of them with powdered milk and warm water and they're getting stronger. "

"The farmer’s daughter was sad to let them go but it was really hard to bottle feed all of them at the same time. "

"It's lovely to get people like young children to feed them when they visit us."