Owners at Brockswood Animal Sanctuary were left reeling after vandals set fire to a portion of their perimeter fence yesterday morning.

Fire crews were called to the site in Catholic Lane, Sedgley, at around 4am to reports of the blaze taking hold. The fire took out around 15 metres of heavy duty fencing as well as trees and greenery with bosses looking at up to £3,000 to put the damage right.

The centre remained closed yesterday as staff were forced to put all of their efforts into dealing with the aftermath, with founder, Neil Swann, saying this attack would take a 'significant amount of time to fix'. Speaking to Matt Dudley on Drivetime yesterday evening, Mr Swann said:

"Fortunately, all of our residents are accounted for and were unharmed. The point of the sanctuary is to take in sick, injured or unwanted animals and we'd rather money went into the rescue or rehabilitation of those animals and not on rebuilding fences.

"However, when we do have problems, the local businesses and residents around us are fantastic. We've got fencing companies willing to help us out, security companies offering to install CCTV for us and a Fixed Wheel Brewery have offered to make us a pale ale to raise funds.

"Whilst this event is tragic, it's also restored our faith in our community - who are all amazing."

A supporter of Brockswood has set up a GoFundMe page to support the rebuild, with donations nearing £1000 after less than 24 hours. You can support the cause by clicking here.