A VETERINARY nurse has won the fight to save her home and animal sanctuary.

Wendy Lacy had twice been refused retrospective permission to keep her caravan home and animal sanctuary.

But a Government inspector has ruled against Stockton Borough Council so Ms Lacy and her abandoned animals will not now be evicted.

Ms Lacy, a member of the British Horse Society, bought her seven-acre smallholding at Calf Fallow Lane, Norton, near Stockton, in 1991.

She began by looking after old and neglected horses at stables on the site but the sanctuary grew as the RSPCA and vets asked her to care for other animals.

She and her partner, Philip Lowery, then sold their other properties to buy a caravan to live in and look after the animals.

Their problems began when someone complained to the council that they did not have permission for a fulltime caravan. Stockton planners twice ruled that the site should only be used for horses.

Government inspector Wenda Fabian overruled the authority after a hearing last May.

In her report Ms Fabian ruled that Ms Lacy should have three years to prove the viability of the sanctuary.

She said: "The functional need for both the sanctuary accommodation and the residential caravan has been demonstrated. In my opinion other normal planning requirements have been satisfied."

Ms Lacy, who must now run the sanctuary as a business primarily for vets who need to house injured animals, said: "If we'd lost we'd have been homeless and at least some of the animals would have been killed."

A spokesman for the council said: "Ms Lacy now has three years to prove that the business can be redeveloped to the point it can stand on its own feet."