EVER wondered what to do with all those old and threadbare towels? Helping orphaned seals may well be the answer.

The animal care team at Scarborough Sea Life and Marine Sanctuary wants to get its hands on old laundry to do just that.

Working with rescued seal pups is a messy business, which requires a large stock of old towels.

“We need towels to throw over the pups’ heads to subdue them when they’re receiving treatment,” said seal expert Lyndsey Crawford.

“They’re also invaluable for mopping up afterwards and quickly get sodden with dirty fishy-smelling and often bloody sea water.”

Because of all that the sanctuary gets through more towels than the average holiday hotel and is currently down to its last small bundle.

People threw in their old towels by the bag full to help the seal team a year ago, and now the sanctuary is once more appealing to their generosity.

“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,” said Lyndsey.

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