Smokers have been barred from using an ashtray outside a village hall after it was taken over by a family of nesting blue tits.

The birds have made themselves a home in the wall-mounted cigarette bin outside Astley and Dunley village hall, near Stourport-on-Severn, Worcs.,

A sign has now been placed on the front of the ashtray to keep the birds safe reading: "Birds nesting. Do not use."

Village hall booking secretary Hazel Spicer said the family of blue tits had been coming back to the same spot for the past few years.

She said: "They must think it's a perfect home but obviously we want to keep them safe."

"We presume it is the same family that keep coming back. "

"We have even replaced one ashtray to a slanted one to keep them out, but there's still one around the back which they have decided to use instead."

"They weren't actually there last time I checked, so a member of the public may have made the sign this time. "

"You know once they are there as there's usually a pile of cigarette butts on the floor which they have thrown out one by one."

"It's not the most ideal place for them to build a nest but it seems to suit them pretty well."

Mum-of-two Carly Vurlan, 41, of Astley., said: "They have become local celebrities, everyone is always on the look out to see if they have returned or not."

"It's really sweet to see them popping in and out, my youngest daughter loves to see them. Somebody always makes a sign to make sure nobody uses it while they are nesting."