A HEDGEHOG sanctuary which has spent 18 months rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing prickly four-friends is moving to a new building.

Wirral Animal Sanctuary's Hog Centre currently based in Hoylake's Carr Lane estate has released more than 150 hedgehogs back into the wild since opening its doors in January 2017 but now the demand for the team's ervice has out-grown their current home which only has a 75-hog capacity.

Last week, the charity revealed they had found and secured a new venue at Larton Livery in Frankby.

Situated in a former vet surgery, the new building has plenty of treatment rooms for different hedgehog needs and will even have a gift shop and education area.

Charity boss Steph Oliver, 29, told the Globe: "At the new Hog Centre we will be keeping records of our hedgehogs electronically, ensuring that all data is saved for an unlimited time, allowing us to carry out valuable research.

"We will be purchasing a program that allows us to do this effectively and will be keeping the information on donated tablets rather than paper which will also speed up our daily tasks.

"We are now able to microchip hedgehogs and will be microchipping the hogs before they are released.

"This means that when a new hog arrives, we will be able to scan it and see if it is a hog that was previously released by us, this will also enable us to learn more about hedgehogs and assess why they may be returned to the centre again, how far they have travelled since release and things like that."

The new centre will also have a specific room for intensive care and will house incubators with the most poorly hedgehogs.

Trained staff and volunteers will care for the hedgehogs in this room.

Steph added: "We currently have two incubators and we hope to raise the necessary funds to purchase more for this room.

"Sometimes we can have up to seven severely sick hedgehogs admitted in one single day, they will all receive treatment in this one room, so the more incubators the better.

"We will also have a room specifically designed for hogs with infectious conditions such as Mange and Ringworm.

"Extra cleaning precautions will be used here to ensure no cross contamination takes place, and this room is shut away from those hogs so there is no risk of other hogs catching any nasties."

Work has already begun on making sure the new centre is the perfect home to help release hedgehogs back into the wild however, donations are needed so that the centre can continue to keep up with the masses of residents that may move into the centre.

Steph said: "A huge move like this is incredibly exciting, but also incredibly expensive.

"The new building requires a lot of cleaning and building work to make it perfect for our spikey residents.

"We need to purchase a lot of new equipment such as shelving, additional medical supplies, cages, and hopefully incubators. We also have the expense of moving, as we require the use of vans to move our larger items.

"We hope that our fantastic supporters will help us with this new adventure by making any donation to this cause, every penny really does count.

"We are so excited, we can't wait for you to join us in this newest adventure for Wirral Animal Sanctuary and we can't thank you enough for all the support you have already given us.

"150 hogs are safely back in the wild, and we couldn't have done it without you."

The sanctuary have also created a 'wish list' of products they are in desperate need of here http://amzn.eu/0WPrJa2

The centre is set to open at the beginning of July.

To donate please visit https://wirralanimalsanctuary.charitycheckout.co.uk/cf/The-Hog-Centre-Moves-To-Larton