Wildlife hospital 'unsustainable' without expansion

Sue Stubley fears her wildlife centre will be forced to close if it does not expand into a new building

A wildlife centre warned it would not survive unless its plan to open a regional hospital was approved.

Suffolk Hedgehog Hospital, based in Newmarket, specialises in the rescue and rehoming of hedgehogs and other animals.

Founder Sue Stubley, 62, wants to open a centre to serve Suffolk, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk and Essex.

She explained it was vital as many rescue centres in the region were under immense pressure and at risk of shutting down.

"At the moment, we are absolutely overrun in our current premises," she said.

"We've had to temporarily close due to the fact we're over capacity."

The centre takes in all kinds of animals in need

The centre, located at Ms Stubley's home during the closure, was mainly dealing with incidents of injured or orphaned animals but, this year in particular, has been seeing more starving animals.

She wants to open her new hospital on a 27-acre (11 hectares) plot of land at Kirtling, Cambridgeshire, which she has already bought.

It would be a purpose-built wildlife veterinary practice with a rehabilitation area for all types of wildlife.

She explained it would also be environmentally friendly and made from recycled materials, regulations permitting.

An application will be submitted in the coming weeks to East Cambridgeshire District Council, who will make a decision on the plans.

Singer Mari Wilson (left) is the charity patron for the Suffolk Hedgehog Hospital and helps to endorse the work of Ms Stubley (right)

"It is desperately, desperately needed," Ms Stubley continued.

"We're taking animals from all over the place and, to my knowledge, in the Cambridgeshire area alone, nine wildlife hospitals have sadly closed.

"We will be another statistic if we cannot increase the size of our hospital and move somewhere.

"We cannot sustain what we're doing."

She also feared staff would lose their jobs if the centre was to shut.

Ms Stubley planned to sell her home eventually to fund the new hospital but would also need help from the public.

She called upon anyone able to support the project or donate items to get in touch.

The centre welcomes donations including pet food, blankets and laundry supplies.