Bald hedgehog loses all his prickles to ringworm and is compared to a 'jacket potato' online

Ollie's face was so encrusted that eating caused him to bleed, according to Judy Thomson, 66, co-founder of Prickles in a Pickle in Stoke Fleming, Devon. Vets diagnosed ringworm and a bacterial infection. Milder UK winters mean such pathogens are no longer reliably killed off by frost. His recovery has been slow, and he still cannot be released.

Without his spines, the charity warns, he would have no defence against predators in the wild.

Thomson said his 13 million online viewers have likened him to 'a rolled-up sock'.