A STATE-OF-THE-ART facility which will improve the standard of care an animal rescue charity can give to sick and injured animals is set to open its doors near Cricklade.

Oak and Furrows Wildlife Rescue Centre (OAF) is currently based near Somerford Keynes but its facilities are outdated and not suited to its needs.

Since August, staff from OAF with help from teams of volunteers from groups including 29 Regiment and Nationwide Building Society have been building the larger base at Blake Hill Farm nature reserve.

In the next few weeks it will be able to take in its first intake of new animals to the centre, which consist of an accident and emergency building, a visitors education centre and staff facilities.

Ray Hood, who has co-ordinated the building of the new centre said: “ We deal with 3000 animals a year now and the new centre should be able to allow us to deal with twice the number that we can no.

He explained that he was exited that the project had attracted help from Wiltshire businesses as it helped raise awareness of what the centre does.

He said: “ 10 times the number of people in Wiltshire know we exist. I am quite sure that there is wildlife throughout Wiltshire which is not getting the help it needs because they did not know we existed.”

Businesses and residents across Wiltshire and Gloucestershire helped raise £220,000 for the new building and the help from the community has kept on coming since construction work on it begun.

Among those who helped were Dialogue Dialog Semiconductor, an electronics firm which has a base in Swindon, who donated cash to build a birds of prey hospital.

Some of the facilities in the new centre include a stable, a duck pond and an education room, where it is hoped CCTV cameras will be installed to allow school children to view animals in their pens without disturbing them.

OAF still needs volunteers to help put together the finishing touches of the new centre.

If you can help call Barry Branigan, general manager of OAF on 01285 862439