STAFF at a Blue Cross pet charity are purring with joy after being given the go ahead for a £2.5m rebuild of its premises.

The Burford rehoming centre, near Shilton, was given permission this week after submitting a planning application to West Oxfordshire District Council in December.

The centre cares for unwanted and abandoned pets such as cats, dogs, rats, guinea pigs, horses and rabbits before finding them a new home.

Last year the centre helped more than 900 dogs, cats and small animals.

Centre manager Jenna Martyn said the new building was needed as the current facilities at the Burford home, built in 1991, were becoming too old to house the pets.

Miss Martyn said she was thrilled and added the rebuilding process, which starts in Autumn this year, would include new kennels for dogs and a new cattery unit. It will be able to double the number of pets it can care for.

She commented on the news: “We submitted the application because our facilities were outdated, so we wanted to update them to look after the animals in our care.”

A major difference will be the introduction of new blocks featuring four kennels in each for the dogs, as opposed to the current blocks of seven.

Miss Martyn said the new kennels would no longer face each other, meaning the animals would not be subject to the level of distress they feel when seeing other animals.

She said: “When they don’t see each other they get less agitated because it is a less stressful environment.

“The blocks are bigger and the kennels will now be in blocks of four instead of seven so they will not see each other. For a nervous dog it can be quite distressing, but now we have a hatching system where they can go outside in the running area. There will also be a new cattery unit and an isolation unit where animals can be separated if they have diseases.”

Miss Martyn further added: “When animals come through they will be separated in a different block so diseased animals will be separated from non-diseased animals. I am an animal lover so to see these facilities is going to be amazing.”

Alex Postan, West Oxfordshire District Councillor for Shilton and former parish council chairman of Shilton, said he was pleased for Blue Cross but had some reservations.

Cllr Postan added: “My general view is this is fantastic for them.

“They do a great job and outside the RAF they are one of the biggest employers in the area.

“The only reservation I would have is that we are always worried about traffic and the access to it on the B4020 is on a rollercoaster part of the road.

“We would like to Oxfordshire County Council improve the road so people can access the centre more easily.”