Ahead of tonight’s blazing bonfires and fireworks displays, here are some tips to protect the wildlife in your garden or local woodland:

• Hedgehogs are not the only garden lovers who need rehousing on Guy Fawkes night. Look out for toads, frogs and newts who will also require a little redirection. The Wildlife Trust encourages us to remember amphibians as they are valued predators in the garden world.

• Divert toads, frogs and newts away from the bonfire by creating small piles of leaves and logs as alternative shelter.

• Always try to make the bonfire on the day of lighting it. If you’ve already built yours, move it tonight to a debris-free area to allow wildlife that has moved in a chance to get out.

• Check, check and check again. Use a torch to make sure no hedgehogs, toads, frogs and newts have sneaked in just before you light the bonfire.

• Don’t burn it all! Leave some dead wood and old leaves as habitat piles for wildlife.

• Make sure the bonfire is out, or safe before leaving it – a large bonfire will produce a pile of ash that could be hot for days afterwards, potentially harming wildlife.

• Clear up once the display has finished. Don’t leave dead fireworks or litter as cans and bottles can trap small mammals or get stuck on their noses.

• If you do find any hibernating hedgehogs at the bottom and in the middle of your prepared bonfire, do pick them up (using gloves) and move them to underneath a tree or shrubs, somewhere that is sheltered and not exposed to wind, rain and frost if possible.

• Keep fireworks away from trees and hedgerows to minimise the disturbance of birds in nest boxes and animals.

• Do not pin Catherine wheels to trees and try to set them off in an open area, attach them to fence posts or stakes in the ground instead.