For more than 60 furry and feathered inhabitants who think of the Ark on the Edge as home, an area of windswept moors has become a paradise.

Pat Kingsnorth, originally from Harrow, near London, but now of Woodland, in Teesdale, County Durham, has been tending animals for as long as she can remember.

"I've been brought up with animals, my mother always got sick animals brought to her - birds with broken wings that sort of thing," she said.

"When I moved to Woodland, people got to hear about me. I never advertised but people started bringing me things."

The animals did not come in two by two, as much as in their dozens, and, last May, Ms Kingsnorth moved from nearby to Woolly Hill Farm, on Woodland Fell, to accommodate them all.

Local vets, the RSPCA and the police regularly take animals to the ark. These have included cats, dogs, rabbits, horses, a donkey, goats, owls, kestrels and even goldfish.

Memorable animals include Chelsea, the skewbald horse who came with a severe throat infection, had to have a tracheotomy and now breathes through a tube in her neck.

There is a badger cub, orphaned by baiters, which needed hand-rearing and was eventually re-released into the wild, and a concussed owl that had to be force-fed with chicks.

If possible, Ms Kingsnorth tries to return wild animals to their native habitats, and to find new homes for the domestic animals.

She said: "If we've got the room, we'll take anything in. However, I make very sure that the animals we find homes for are going to a good home.

"People who've taken animals from me will know I'm always calling to see how they're getting on."

Ms Kingsnorth is now seeking charitable status for the ark, which costs more than £15,000 a year to run, and hopes to get funding to open an education centre, which would allow school groups and other organisations to learn about the animals and study them at close quarters.

The sanctuary already works closely with students from Houghall College, in Durham.

"I want to be able to give something back, said Ms Kingsnorth. "Although we live in the country, a lot of children round here will have never seen a barn owl up close.

"Hopefully, with the education centre we can teach them about some of the wildlife there is around here."

For more information or to offer help at the sanctuary, contact Ms Kingsnorth on (01833) 630505 or visit www. arkontheedge.org.uk