By Phil Coleman Chief reporter

Last updated 11:48, Friday, 10 October 2008

AN ANIMAL hospital which opened two years ago at the Knoxwood Wildlife Rescue Centre near Wigton has become so successful that it now needs to double in size.

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Unusual: Any animal can be brought for help to the centre

The centre’s reputation for caring for and rehabilitating injured or sick wildlife has spread across the country, encouraging people to bring animals to it from places as far away as Scotland, Merseyside, Lancashire and even as far south as Watford.

In its first year, the hospital took in hundreds of wildlife casualties but that has now risen thousands.

They have included all manner of wildlife, from orphaned baby water voles no bigger than a thumbnail to malnourished hedgehogs, abandoned skunks, and injured deer.

The opening of the hospital in 2006 was the realisation of a five-year dream for Knoxwood founder George Scott and his daughter Emma, who run the centre with a small army of workers and volunteers.

Funded partly by a £60,000 Government grant, and £40,000 raised through fundraising, the hospital has an operating theatre, food preparation room, recovery ward, and a pre-release area. Now they are aiming to raise £200,000 to provide more space.

George said: “Our original hospital was just a small room in our house and when the new one opened it was about four or five times bigger.

“We thought it would meet our needs for years to come, but now, two and a half years after it opened, we realise that we need something twice as big.

“Most of the animals we take in come from an area between the borders, the north-east, Blackpool and Preston in the south, and of course Cumbria. But as our reputation has spread, we have found that we are getting animals from a wider area: from as far north as Edinburgh, from Liverpool in to the south and even from as far south as Watford.”

The hospital is also increasingly having to deal with sea birds rescued from oil slicks in the Irish Sea or off the coast of the north east.

“People know what we do, and some think nothing of arriving here at 2am with an injured animal. If they can be bothered to bring them in, whatever the time, we have to be bothered to do what is necessary to help.”

One of the people who regularly sends injured or oil-covered sea birds to the hospital is Tyne-and-Wear woman Carol McDonald.

She said: “I’ve been in touch with them four times since Sunday. I’ve done animal rescue for years and we’ve just had an oil spill in Whitley Bay.

“George and Emma are lifesavers.”

Contact them on 016973 43812.