WEST Hatch Wildlife Centre is gearing up to release the first round of seabirds it washed and treated after hundreds were sent there covered in an oily substance.

More than 300 guillemots and razorbills have been cared for at the RSPCA centre, near Taunton, since the end of January when thousands washed up caked in an oil additive along England's south coast.

All the birds were washed twice with household margarine and soapy water to remove the substance and around 80 are currently being monitored in rehabilitation pools at the centre to get them used to the water.

Around 20 birds are expected to be released within 10 days, when they will transported to Portland in Dorset and Berry Head in south Devon. Centre manager Peter Venn said: “Those that are out in the pools are gaining weight nicely and looking pretty good so now it is just about maintaining the care process right up to release.”