THE head trustee of the Dorney based Animal Sanctuary has hit back after a social media campaign was launched calling for the charity to be closed down.

Slough Borough Councillor Diana Coad is the head trustee and has described the attack, on Facebook, as 'spiteful and unjust'.

She fiercely denied that animals were kept in poor conditions.

She said: "Our buildings are ramshackle and we have recently been flooded. But we are not like other organisations that spend money on offices and salaries. We are all volunteers and just the manager is paid.

"We run a professional ship on a shoestring. It costs £2,000 a week just to feed the animals but we rely on donations.

"One claim in the Facebook said a dog was kept in a crate all the time. The only dog in a crate here arrived from Romania having travelled here in it and was taken out immediately."

A Facebook petition against the charity has attracted at least 2,500 signatures. But Cllr Coad said that several people who came to see for themselves last weekend, after reading the Facebook page, had been welcomed in and shown round.

She said she was amazed at online claims that the sanctuary refused to release animals or birds to homes that were being offered, saying: "We rehouse 250 animals and birds a year but more always came in to replace them."

She said the Facebook page had been reported to the police for some of the things it had said.

The Sanctuary is due to move soon to new premises on Royal Borough owned land at Bell Farm Stables in Eton Wick - after forms were sent out to villagers who overwhelmingly supported the idea.

The RSPCA confirmed this week it had been in regular contact with the sanctuary.

A spokesman said: "While we share concerns that some of the conditions are not ideal, all advice we have offered has been followed and the owner is currently in the process of updating the accommodation and moving to a newer, more spacious location.

"The welfare of these animals is very important to us and we will continue to check on them to make sure they are alright. We last visited on 26 May and plan to return soon."

Anyone with any specific concerns can call the RSPCA on 0300 1234 999.