LITTLE Bo Peep has lost her sheep — and she wants members of the public to find them.

Joyce Herdson, from Radcliffe, has taken on the role of the popular nursery rhyme favourite by hand-making a number of toy sheep, which she is leaving in different locations to highlight the importance of organ donation.

Mrs Herdson, aged 51, hopes that people who find the cute toys will log on to the Lost Sheep Facebook page to upload a photo of where the teddies have been found before joining the organ donor register.

The mother-of-two, of Irwell Street, Radcliffe, came up with the idea while learning to knit as she was recovering from a lifesaving double lung transplant last year.

Mrs Herdson said: “While I was recovering I was having trouble concentrating and struggled to read, so I started knitting and found I could follow the patterns.

“I had the idea to make little sheep and lose them in places so people can learn about the importance of signing up to the donor register.

“At first we put them just in the Bury and Bolton area.

"But now we are trying to get the sheep as far away from here as possible."

Mrs Herdson was diagnosed with Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis, an incurable condition which causes scarring of the lungs, and was given between two-and-a-half and five years to live in October 2012.

She said: “I was very lucky because I received my operation just in time. It was hard at first but I am recovering well. The family of the person whose lungs I received made a very selfless decision to donate his organs, which brought light into mine and my family’s lives.

"I thought it would be good to give something back.”

People can visit facebook.com/HomeforLostSheep and thelostsheep.org.uk for more information.