A REJECTED lamb has been given a new ‘fleece’ of life at a Burnley school.

‘Bert’ was shunned by his mother when he was born three weeks ago and she would not allow him to feed.

In a desperate bid for help, the farmer made an appeal on Facebook for somebody to help feed Bert, every four hours for up to six weeks.

Staff at Sir John Thursby Community College, which already has a collection of animals including chickens, goats, peacocks and rabbits, stepped in and offered to adopt the lamb.

Now three-weeks-old, Bert has proved he is definitely not the black sheep of the Eastern Avenue school.

Students have been lining up in their droves to help take care of him.

His arrival has seen teachers return to school after hours to look after him through the night and he is certainly settling in well to his new surroundings.

Science and animal care teacher Val Anderson said: “We already had three Hebridean sheep at school so it was easier for us to take him in than if we did not.

“The students have really warmed to him and they are all interested in looking after him.

“Everyone is getting involved which is fantastic.

“We provide BETC courses in animal care and those students have been involved in looking after Bert a lot.

“We have Rural Dimension Status which we applied for a few years ago and that means that we try to get animals involved in the life of the school as much as possible.

“The school has had animals here since we became Sir John Thursby seven years ago.

“It’s fantastic how Bert has settled in at the school and how all of the students have taken to him.”