Plan for Wee County rescue centre

If given the go ahead, the centre will care for wild animals

Plans to create a national wildlife rescue centre in Clackmannanshire have been announced.

The Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SSPCA) has bought a 180-acre site at Castleton Farm, near Dollar, for the project.

If given the go-ahead, the centre would treat injured wild animals from across Scotland and replace its facility in Dunfermline, Fife.

The centre would employ about a dozen people.

The SSPCA said it planned to submit a planning application for the new centre imminently.

'High profile'

The project would see all facilities in Dunfermline, which includes the UK's second largest seal rehabilitation unit, moved to Clackmannanshire and expanded.

The organisation has only one other centre for treating injured wild animals in Scotland based in Shetland, which is mainly used to treat wild birds.

Scottish SPCA chief executive Stuart Earley, said: "Clackmannanshire is a very attractive area with its own wide diversity of wildlife.

"Its central location is ideal for a national wildlife centre and we look forward to working closely with Clackmannanshire Council on this and other issues."

Eddie Carrick, the council's sustainability spokesman, added: "I am pleased a national organisation with such a high profile has chosen to make Clackmannanshire the home for its new centre."