Animal workers thought they were doing a good deed when they gave homeless cats a new start in Guernsey.

A highly successful neutering programme on the Channel Island had led to a shortage of pet cats.

In stepped Billy Elliott, of Worthing and District Animal Rescue Service, who offered islanders some of Sussex's abandoned cats for rehoming.

His good deed turned sour, however.

The charity received hate mail and threats after people reading a Daily Mail article got the wrong end of the stick and accused it of sending toms to impregnate the female cat population.

Mr Elliott said: "We had the first call at 9am and I hadn't even seen the article.

"This woman attacked me on the phone.

"She calmed down and read the article to me. I said, 'I'm sorry, you've got the wrong end of the stick'.

"In the next hour we had another half-dozen calls from people all over the country.

"They were saying we were irresponsible to release 21 un-neutered tomcats - but we weren't."

Mr Elliott took 15 male cats and six females to the island last month.

It seemed like the perfect solution for the islanders and the charity, which has to rehome more than 400 cats a year.

The Guernsey Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals welcomed Mr Elliott's offer.

Ferry operator Condor even gave the cats free passage.

Of those that went, some had been neutered and others were due to be neutered when old enough so there would be no breeding.

However, some cat charities and animal rights activists misinterpreted the newspaper article.

Mr Elliott said: "It's amazing the impact that article had. It has put everything in jeopardy.

"We've had half a dozen of our members withdraw their membership."

He had planned further trips to rehome cats on the island but that is now on hold.