THREE cats have had to be put down after they were found poisoned in a garden in Cricklade.

Police were alerted at around 4pm on Friday that the three pets, which belonged to separate families in the area, had to be put down.

The incident is not being treated as malicious, but it has been referred to the RSPCA who will be conducting enquiries into what happened.

The three cats, aged five, three, and one, belonged to families in the area of Fullers Avenue and Cherry Tree Road.

While the animals did not have the same owners, they would often be found together in the area, and police believe they had been been in the same spot when they ingested the hazardous substances, which has not yet been confirmed.

All three were found in the same garden when concerns were first raised into their health.

Sgt Donna West, of the Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade neighbourhood policing team, said the team do not believe it was a deliberate act, but are urging anyone who can shed light on the incident to contact them.

"The case has been referred to the RSPCA, who are now investigating," said Sgt West.

"The owners are understandably quite distressed at having to have their pets put down.

"We do not believe at this stage that there is anything malicious in what has happened here, so this is not a case of someone going around the area deliberately poisoning animals.

"These cats have all been somewhere together at the same time, and wherever they were they have somehow got this stuff ingested into their bodies.

"They were taken to the vets but unfortunately have had to be put down, and it all happened very fast.

"While the cats did not all belong to the same family, apparently they were always together whatever they were doing. We don't know if any of the cats were related, but they were clearly very close.

"We are appealing for anyone with any information as to how this might have happened to contact us."

Anyone with information should call the neighbourhood policing team on 101, quoting crime reference number 54150035794 or Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.