Prickly hopes swept away

A hedgehog rescue centre has gone back to the drawing board in its search for a site to carry on and expand its work with injured and sick animals.

Hopes were high of setting up a 200-patient unit at Myhills Garden Centre in Fritton but flooding on the site has swept the project back to where it started - in Lynn Satchell's bungalow back garden.

After seven months of effort and despite the goodwill of everyone involved Mrs Satchell said that Spikes, like many of its patients, needed to be re-homed.

She said: “They are all lovely people but it's not going to work because of the flooding. They were very helpful but it was going to take a year to put a pathway to us. I want to let people know that I wont be there anymore and that the reception shed will be off the site by August 18.”

The setback has come just as she has been inundated with patients after two centres in Roydon and Long Stratton had to close through illness.

Currently the family-run operation in Potter's Drive, Hopton, is short of space and volunteers for its 60 prickly patients crammed into a 10ft by 8ft “ward”, many of them babies who need to be hand fed with dog and cat collostrum every two hours.

Hedgehogs, she said, were well into the breeding season but careless mums had a habit of leaving little ones behind on night-time scavenging hunts. Several of the patients were victims of dog attacks, she added.

Her search for a site had seen her visit a farm but because of machinery moving about there would have been health and safety concerns about allowing visitors - sinking her dream of an education centre.

And although she is looking at other possibilities she is still keen to hear from people who have enough land for around seven sheds and a reception centre.

Meanwhile with scarcely time to complete her ward rounds she is keen to train volunteers in all aspects of hedgehog care to ease the nursing burden on her family.

To help call Lynn on 01502 732423.