A RESCUE centre which has saved the lives of hundreds of horses, dogs, cats and other animals in the past 15 years, has been put up for sale.

Kate Clamp said that a neck injury has made the sale necessary of her house, stables, kennels and land at Low Garth Farm, in Ramshaw, near Bishop Auckland.

She has put a price tag of £895,000 on the Ramshaw Rescue Centre.

Mrs Clamp, who has four grown-up children, said: “My neck injury, caused by horse riding and a lot of heavy lifting in the centre, will need hospital treatment, so I will have to give up the rescue service I’ve enjoyed providing.

“It is now more difficult to run the place, as my children, who used to help a lot, are now grown up and have their own careers to think of.

“And police no longer have anything to do with stray dogs, so I am expected to deal with many more of them.”

She thought about selling the centre some months ago, and meant to insist that the buyer should carry on the rescue service, but she changed her mind at the last minute and decided to stay in control.

However, she said yesterday: “I will be happy to accept any buyer, if the price is right, and they can please themselves about what they do in future.”

She said the large modern house, with four bedrooms and three bathrooms comes with kennels, stables and about 35 acres.

At the moment, she has 11 dogs, a batch of kittens, one pig, two llamas, ten horses and 16 donkeys.

“I’ve often had many more than that at times in the past, but I’ve been trying to take in fewer animals as I can’t move around as easily.”

Many people call at the centre with children just to look around, especially at weekends.

“But they take up a lot of my time, so, as from November 5, I’ll be allowing visits by appointment only,” she added.

The sale is being handled by estate agents Fine and Country, of Darlington.