The man behind Derby County Football Club mascot Rammie is backing a call to encourage more people to become foster parents.

Entertaining youngsters is a full-time job for Rammie, alias Dean Mottram, so it is reasonable to think he would welcome a break from children when he goes home at the end of the day.

But it seems that working with youngsters has inspired the 33-year-old and his 28-year-old wife, Emma, to become foster parents.

The couple, from Burton, have been caring for two brothers aged nine and 12 for the past five months. The couple are considering having children of their own which they say would not affect their fostering commitments.

Now they are supporting the Fostering Network, a national campaign which aims to recruit 7,000 foster carers across the country including about 100 in Derby and Derbyshire by the end of the year.

The Fostering Network liaises with councils to establish where there are children in need of foster families.

Mr Mottram said: "As part of my job I was spending a lot of time with children. They seemed to warm to me and that's when we thought about fostering.

"Becoming foster parents was not strange for us at all. The children had various problems before they came to us but they have just fitted into our family life and are very happy.

"I would definitely recommend becoming a foster parent, anybody considering it should go for it.

"The advice I would give is to get on to the child's level, talk to them like a friend rather than a carer and go into fostering with an open mind."

Derby City Council and Derbyshire County Council are each looking to recruit at least 50 more foster parents.

A campaign to recruit more foster carers was launched by the county council in July and attracted 100 potential foster parents.

Currently, the county council has 350 foster carers and 500 young people in care.

Mandy Cann, spokeswoman for the county council, said: "We were very pleased with the response to our campaign but we are always on the lookout for more people to join us."

The city council cares for 360 children placed with 196 carers in Derby.

Robin Short, service manager in fostering and adoption at the city council, said: "We are very pleased about this campaign and fully support it.

"The number of foster carers we have is quite good and proves that Derby is a caring community. However, we are always on the lookout for more foster carers to join us."

The city council's telephone number for people interested in becoming foster carers is Derby 718000.

For an information pack from the county council, telephone 01629 772211.