Oiled birds to benefit from pool

RSPCA staff at a wildlife centre in Somerset hope they can save the lives of more birds caught in oil spillages by using a new cleaning pool.

The Friends of West Hatch Wildlife Centre have raised money for the deeper pool meaning more birds can be cleaned and made fit before release.

Some 1,000 birds were treated at the Taunton centre after the oil disaster on the Devon coast in January 2007.

The pool will be used by seals when it is not being used to clean the birds.

West Hatch Wildlife Centre manager Rupert Griffiths said: "The staff at the RSPCA are proud that we managed to save and release 40% of the casualties from the Napoli oil spill.

"Experience tells us that major oil spills are not one-off events and the new larger pool means more capacity and a speedier recovery for future casualties."

The new pool is 6m wide, 7m long and 2m deep and will be able to accommodate more birds which can be rehabilitated more quickly and then released back into their natural environment sooner.

The existing tank will be moved this summer to a new platform and plumbed in to serve as an overflow in circumstances such as large oil spills.