A DEADLY bird disease could be spreading throughout South Lakeland after more cases were found in the past weeks.

A number of greenfinches and chaffinches believed to be suffering from Trichomonas have been discovered throughout the area this autumn.

The disease, believed to be spread by the grubs of a mite which can even be picked up from unclean bird tables, causes lesions in the throat, making it impossible for the birds to eat and causing them to starve to death.

Several weeks ago a probable case of the disease was recorded by Mike Carruthers of Kirkby-in-Furness, who discovered the bodies of several birds lying in his garden.

Now Professor Charles Fry, an ornithologist, says he has discovered about a dozen greenfinches and chaffinches in the garden of his Kentmere home and in the surrounding area that may have fallen victim to Trichomonas.

Prof Fry said: "At the beginning of this month, I started to notice birds on my feeder which had the same symptoms. Their feathers were all fluffed out and they had become very lethargic and looked ill," he said.

"They were very approachable and let me get within inches of them. Some seemed to be choking and were unable to eat or swallow."

But the professor believes that there could be many more affected birds in Kentmere alone, which have not yet been discovered.

"I have seen nearly a dozen of the birds and believe there are perhaps scores and possibly hundreds of dying birds," he said.

Laura Hughes, who is researching the disease at the University of Liverpool, said that this was the first time that Trichomonas had been properly studied so it was difficult to know whether or not this year's events were a one-off'.

But she added that South Lakeland was not the only part of Britain to have been affected.

"We are seeing cases from all over the country. A lot of people that we have spoken to have not seen this before and it could be that this is an unusually large outbreak, but we cannot say for certain. It may be that we have just started looking."

She added that anyone who finds a bird which appear to be suffering from the disease should call the Garden Bird Health Initiative hotline on 020-744-96685.