Children strain the mud to look for shrimps and worms

The Ribble Discovery Centre in Lytham St Annes urged people to donate their old strainers for "mud-dipping".

Children who visit the centre use them to sieve mud from the Ribble Estuary to look for shrimps, worms and snails.

A total of 120 out of the 180 donated were sent by a woman in Hong Kong who saw their plea on the BBC News website.

The strainers have become less common with the popularity of tea bags.

We were amazed when the call came from Hong Kong Ruth Fraser Discovery Centre manager

The centre is run by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) and the project teaches children about the creatures living in the mud and why the estuary is important to migrating birds.

Ruth Fraser, centre manager, said 60 were delivered to the centre by locals.

The donor from Hong Kong rang the centre first, before sending 120 in the post with a note: "It's pretty easy to get tea strainers over here and I really liked the idea of kids being able to sieve the mud for shrimps, worms and snails - what fun!"

Ms Fraser says she is delighted her appeal has reached so far.

"This fantastic response means that we have saved the mud-dipping project which thousands of children and community groups enjoy every year when they visit the centre," Ms Fraser said.

"We were amazed when the call came from Hong Kong and the woman told us she had seen it on the website."