Western Daily Press readers have raised £100,000 in 28 days to save 20 bile bears in China.

Its appeal to rescue the abused bears surpassed all expectations and came after the newspaper highlighted the plight of 7,000 bears kept in captivity.

The animals, which are drained of their bile for use in traditional medicine, are locked in cages, where their limbs are bent between crumbling and rusty bars.

When the appeal was launched, with the backing of a local charity, the target was to raise £5,000 – enough to rescue just one bear from its horrific suffering but just four weeks later the money is still pouring in.

Editor Terry Manners, who will receive the RSPCA’s National award in June for the Western Daily Press’ determination to stamp out animal cruelty, said: “Our readers have been magnificent.

“The response has been phenomenal – especially as we were only asking our readers to help rescue one bear. But we didn’t pull any punches. The copy and pictures were heartrending … and sometimes upsetting.

“At its peak we were raising £5,000 a day – and money is still coming in. We have had donations ranging from £2 to £2,000 from individual readers as well as companies donating products to auction.”

The rescue of the Western Daily Bears will be coordinated by Animals Asia Foundation which runs a sanctuary for the bears in China. A team of reporters and photographers will be going there in September.