AN animal sanctuary shop in New Ferry says it is ‘begging for donations’ following devastating damage by the explosion yesterday.

Rescue Me animal sanctuary has released a statement on social media saying that the damage will leave no income from shop and it may be forced to close the sanctuary.

It read: “We are completely devastated by the tragic explosion outside our new shop in New Ferry. Our thoughts are with those who have been injured by the blast and we remain eternally grateful that there were no volunteers, supporters and rescue animals in the shop at the time of the incident.

“We are still yet to find out the full extent of the damage to the shop as the area is cordoned off for safety reasons, therefore the shop will be closed until further notice and emergency services are saying this will be protracted due to the sheer extent of the damage.

“This literally could not have come at a worse time for us with recent estimated vet bills of over £2,000 from four poorly cats (excluding Ellen-Rae), as our shop is our only source of regular income.

“Macy, a 14-year-old with heart, skin and thyroid problems, Willow, an old girl with cat flu, Panda our new 14-year-old left at the vets to be euthanised yesterday after being involved in a road traffic accident, needing x-rays and leg amputation and finally Pluto who has severe complications from cat flu necessitating further tests and surgery on his mouth.

“This is all on top of our daily running costs which are higher than normal with our new handrears.

“We are begging our supporters to stand by us at this time and send a donation of whatever you can to help us to help the cats in our care. We really do not want to have to shut our doors to other cats in need and this can be avoided if we can cover our bill for our current emergencies.”

To send a donation go to charitycheckout.co.uk/1157210/donate