**IMPORTANT UPDATE**

We have increased our total as we have discovered that pre-auction bids have already been submitted by other parties and Highways England could accept them and withdraw the lot from auction. Therefore we have had to submit our own pre-auction bid!

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We found out this morning that the tiny strip of land/verge in front of our main entrance, that we have been trying to purchase from Highways England for years since the Merafield Road bridge was replaced, has now been put up for auction without notice or offer to our charity.

To secure the safety and access to our site we need to be able to purchase this land, which will go to auction on the 4th December.

The land is approximately 0.3 Acres (0.13 Hectares) with a guide price of £2,000. As this is an auction, the land could go for more on the day!

When the Merafield Road bridge was replaced back in 2016 we started making enquiries to be able to purchase this tiny strip of land that was created when the old bridge was demolished. We were passed back and forth between Highways England and Plymouth City Council as no one really knew what was going to happen with this land. Then the Covid-19 pandemic happened so it was all put on hold. We weren’t able to get any further after this so it was a huge shock to find an auction sign being erected at our main entrance this morning! No one from Highways England had the courtesy of informing us this was happening and the location of the auction sign gives the impression our charity is up for auction, which I can assure you is not the case.

We feel totally disregarded as the adjacent land owner as our boundary used to go right up to the road, but as a new road and bridge were built to demolish the old one - this surplus piece of land was created - pushing our boundary back from the road.

Any help you can give will be very much appreciated.

Any extra funds received over the auction price will go towards the associated legal fees and excess will go into general funds to help the animals in our care.