The future of Brentwood's threatened Hopefield Animal Sanctuary is still hanging in the balance despite a determined campaign to stop it being thrown off its home in Sawyers Hall Lane.

The land is owned by Supermarket giants Tesco, which has evaluated the land and is considering selling it.

But after being bombarded with a 600 signature petition and countless protest letters a spokeswoman said this week that even if it did sell the land she was sure arrangements would be made to protect the sanctuary, which cares for more than 200 animals.

She added: "If we decide to sell it, it doesn't mean that we will just throw these people off. We haven't made any suggestion that we are going to throw them off the land."

The campaign to save Hopefield has gathered pace since we revealed the land sale threat last month.

The petition pleading with Tesco not to sell the land while some people, including Tesco shareholders, have written to company individually.

Ernie Clark, who runs Hopefield with his wife Paula, said: "We just have to wait and see what happens."

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