Homeless cats can now look forward to a stay at the purr-fect halfway house.

A new £150,000 cattery at the RSPCA Danaher animal shelter in Wethersfield, near Braintree, has finally opened after months of planning.

The new cat complex will provide enough room for 54 felines at the animal home where space is always at a premium.

Work on the new cattery started last September. The £150,000 for the ambitious project coming from concerted fundraising efforts.

The old cattery had only half the capacity of the beds now on offer and home manager Maxine Gillespie could not be more delighted.

"This is brilliant, it will be lovely for the cats," she said.

In the last year alone, the number of cats admitted to the centre has increased by 25 per cent and during 1999 it tried to rehome 900 cats.

At present, there are 16 cats waiting to be rehomed and the extra pens will come as a welcome relief.

Miss Gillespie said: "We are under so much pressure to take cats. We still will be, but the new cattery will mean we can take more than we can at the moment."

The honour of cutting the ribbon and declaring the new cattery open went to Margery Danaher, who originally donated the land where the RSPCA home now stands.

"Mrs Danaher is still very interested in what goes on here," said Miss Gillespie.

"If it wasn't for her, this place would not be here."

If you can give a cat a loving home please contact the home on 01371 851201

Converted for the new archive on 19 November 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.