Fears have been raised by neighbours on an estate where a cat had its neck ripped open on illegal barbed wire fencing.

Hackney Homes has ordered the property owner who erected the wire to take it down, but too late for the cat belonging to a neighbour on the Stoke Newington estate.

Now residents on the Garnham Close estate are concerned that more cats could be seriously hurt.

Blood and hair

The 52-year-old resident who found the injured cat but wished to remain anonymous, said: “I have been here for over a year and this particular cat has been coming to my garden for a year.

“It was sleeping in my garden on Monday. I went to the back garden to feed it and it had a great big rip in its neck.

“There was blood and hair on the barbed wire. I was really shocked. The cat would not let me pick it up and ran away.

“I’ve spoken to the council and the police and they said it is illegal to have broken glass and wire on the fence.

“The council have sent her several letters to take it down and they have not done anything.

“Something really needs to be done. There’s a lot of people on this estate with cats. There’s also a lot of stray cats round here. How many more cats are going to get injured?“

The resident is unsure what has happened to the cat as it has not been seen since and she was unsure who it belonged to.

Another neighbour, Barbara Whitmarsh, 74, said: “This barbed fence wire fence has been up for months and the owner did not notify us she was putting it up.

“This cat ripped its neck on the fence because it does not understand how dangerous barbed wire is.

“It’s hurting animals and I’m worried it may hurt children. Balls go over the fence and they normally try to climb over the fence to get them.”

A council spokesman said the woman had until Monday to remove the fencing. She added: “Hackney Homes will remove it if hasn’t been taken down by then.”