Emma Dowler, of the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, holds up one of the tiny crabs.

A Shropshire woman had the surprise of her life when she discovered something unusual thrown out with the rubbish – a bucket full of crabs from the seaside.

Jane Waine, of Church Lane, Tasley, Bridgnorth, found the 26 shore crabs when she went to put out the rubbish last week. When she realised what the yellow children’s bucket contained, she called the RSPCA.

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Its officers took them to the National Sea Life Centre in Birmingham.

The crabs are now being cared for in a quarantine unit before they are eventually moved to a rock pool display at the centre.

Mrs Waine said she had no idea where the crabs had come from or how they ended up at the bottom of her drive.

“When I first looked into the bucket I thought it might be frogs, but when I looked closer I realised it was full of crabs thrashing around in not much water,” she said.

“I didn’t know what to do with them so I phoned the vets who told me to get in contact with the RSPCA.

“I’ve got a terrapin who I sometimes put in a paddling pool in the back garden in the summer, so I emptied the bucket into there while I waited for the RSPCA inspector to arrive.

“The inspector told me they couldn’t take them back to the seaside because they couldn’t be sure where they had come from and might have parasites which could kill off native species.

“They took them to the National Sea Life Centre where they are being kept in quarantine for three weeks.

“I can’t understand why anyone would want to bring them back from the seaside.

“I’m just glad I found the bucket before my cats did,” she added.

Lynsey Thompson, displays supervisor at the National Sea Life Centre, said: “This is the second shore crab rescue in the space of two months.

“The first involved a large shore crab found walking down the middle of the road in Winson Green, but sadly he didn’t survive.

“We’re hoping that this isn’t the start of a worrying new craze for bringing crabs back from holiday, especially with our seaside resorts reporting a bit of a resurgence this year.

“Crabs are sensitive creatures that need to be kept at a certain temperature, and will die if kept out of water for very long.”

By Jonathan Wood