Perforated covering on the exhaust?

Heard a scraping sound the other day from my car when driving over a speed bump, and looking underneath, it looks like it's some of perforated covering around the exhaust, but at a point that's not far behind the front wheels! Does anyone know what this is?



I had look in the Haynes manual, and it doesn't seem to feature on the underside view of the car. It's pretty rusty, and is hanging down from both sides of the exhaust pipe, and, at a guess, I'd say it might be somesort of heat shield or something, but I just don't know.



Firstly, is it important, and secondly, can I remove it without causing any harm to the running of the car?

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