Props from Birmingham 2022 Opening Ceremony donated to Robert the cat allotments

An allotment famed for its tweeting cats says it feels "lucky" after props used in the Birmingham 2022 opening ceremony were donated to them.

The Walsall Road Allotments, based in Perry Barr, sit in the shadow of the Alexander Stadium, which hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the Games as well as the athletics.

Now organisers at the Games have gifted several spades to the site for them to use.

Members of the allotments say they hope to sell some of them, as well as 'Robert the Allotment Cat' books and memorabilia to their adoring fans.

In a tweet from the Robert the allotment cat, assisted by Dorothy account, it read: "Look what we were given yesterday.

"Some things that were used in the Opening Ceremony of the Games (my human says they are called 'Props')

"They even gave us the trucks they brought them round on! We may be able to sell some at the Summer Fayre. Aren't we lucky."

Crops and vegetables have been grown on the site since the early twentieth century.

The site is owned by Birmingham City Council and is managed by a committee of unpaid volunteers.

They had been under threat in 2019, but were saved after a campaign spearheaded by its most famous resident - Robert the allotment cat.

The feline tragically died in a dog attack in April and Dorothy, another allotment cat has since taken over the mantle to update the thousands of people following the Twitter page.

The allotments are hosting a summer fair on Tuesday, September 20, between 12pm and 3pm, with fresh fruit and vegetable stalls, as well as raffles and games.

The Twitter account is managed by Betty Farruggia and she writes most of the posts for the feed through the eyes of cats on the site.

Paying tribute to the feline after his death, she said: "Robert was a stray who turned up exactly five years ago.

"To begin with, he was very nervous and wouldn't come near me. He quickly started to feel at home and became the most friendly cat imaginable.

"He made friends with complete strangers, whether they liked cats or not.

"He tweeted to his 40k followers on Twitter every morning, some of them even came to the allotments to visit him.