BEFORE you or your parents start trimming bushes and tidying up the garden for autumn, animal experts are asking you to stop and think about wildlife.

The RSPB are urging gardeners not to trim hedges and bushes yet as the fruit and berries could be a great help to wild birds and squirrels getting ready for winter, when food is scarce.

Bushes can also be home to late nesting birds. There are still species that have extended breeding seasons and heavy gardening and pruning could disturb nests!