AROUND £9,000 was raised at Hessilhead Wildlife Rescue Centre Open, which was potentially the charity’s busiest year ever.

It is thought that over 1,000 people attended the event at the Gateside centre on Sunday, June 11, which was so popular that traffic queued all the way down to the B777.

Although a last minute problem outwith the charity’s control caused some delays at the entrance to the centre, the Open Day was a huge success and enjoyed by all.

Gay Christie, who runs Hessilhead alongside her husband Andy, said: “It was a brilliant day. The weather was much better than we were expecting. The rain was very heavy but it only lasted about 10 minutes. It really was a good day. It lets people see what we do.

“The pine martens were popular. They put on a good show, running about. Some of the fox cubs were visible a lot of the time too.

“I would say there were well over 1,000 people. At a rough estimate, we raised around £9,000, which is really good. Our running costs alone are about £100,000 a year so it is a big help.

“We did have a bit of a problem. The people who were supposed to be parking cars for us let us down at the last minute so we didn’t have anyone in the car park. That slowed the car parking process. We couldn’t find anyone at that short notice. It was unfortunate.”