The battle to save the Blue Cross centre was continuing today - but campaigners need YOUR help.

SUFFOLK: We need your help.

That was the appeal to Evening Star readers today as the campaign to save the Blue Cross animal rescue centre in Walton gathers pace.

It has saved the lives of thousands of animals for more than 60 years but now shocked campaigners from across Suffolk are facing the prospect of losing a centre which has become the focal point of a community.

Although plans for the closure are not set in stone, employees are in talks with charity bosses and a consultation period has begun to find an alternative to closing the door.

With a staff of ten and a dedicated team of 65 volunteers, the centre is a fantastic example of community spirit in action - re-housing 400 animals in the past year alone.

But if the proposals to close go ahead, the centre could be shut by the summer.

Christine Cox, who ran the Blue Cross with her husband from 1971 until 1978, said: “We were there right from the beginning and watched the centre grow.

“We still need the centre today. Where else can people take their stray animals? People will start leaving them in the streets again.”

Alice Lowe, manager of Pets at Home in Ipswich, has also backed the Star's campaign and has launched a store petition.

She said: “I am concerned of what this will mean to lots of pets that need re-housing if they close a centre which plays such a massive part in giving animals a second chance.

“I find it shocking that they could consider closing a re-homing centre when I know that the RSPCA are overrun at the moment.

“Our customers are all equally as shocked and over 250 people have signed our petition against the closure.”

Jennie Squirrell, 29, who has volunteered at the centre for over 18 months, said: “I find it absolutely heartbreaking that the Blue Cross Centre in Walton, Felixstowe is to be closed.

“As a volunteer I am lucky enough to have witnessed the love, time and energy that the staff at the centre put in to working in this rewarding environment.”

Send us your messages of support for the Save The Blue Cross campaign - write to Your Letters, Evening Star, 30 Lower Brook Street, Ipswich, IP4 1AN or e-mail eveningstarletters@eveningstar.co.uk

- Pick up your posters campaigning against the closure from the Star's Felixstowe office in Hamilton Road.