A HAVEN for rescued seal pups is asking visitors and residents to throw in their towels - to help them treat the marine mammals.

The animal care team at Scarborough Sea Life Sanctuary has issued an appeal for unwanted towels, saying it gets through more than an average holiday hotel and is down to its last small bundle.

The sanctuary has recently taken in three abandoned and sickly seal pups and is expecting a fresh influx.

Seal expert Lyndsey Crawford said towels were needed to throw over the pups’ heads to subdue them when they receive treatment, and were also invaluable for mopping up afterwards.

She said: “If anyone’s got any old towels they were planning to throw out, we’d be very grateful if they could drop them off here instead.

“It doesn’t matter if they’re a bit threadbare or even a bit grubby, because if they’re not they soon will be.”