An animal sanctuary near The Lizard has made a desperate plea for help, saying it is “struggling to cope” following weeks of bad weather.

The Bolenowe Animal Sanctuary at Ruan Minor needs volunteers who are good at DIY to help with a variety of jobs on the stables, so that they can bring more animals inside out and out of the mud.

Writing on social media, sanctuary chairman Valerie Blake said: “Our horses and ponies are really struggling to cope with the result of weeks of really bad weather and constant, and at times torrential, rain.

“The winds have been bitter and vicious out on The Lizard. Our fields are now muddy quagmires, the horses are up to their hocks in mud and losing weight and suffering due to the bitter wind so we are having to bring as many as we can into the barns and stables to make sure they are warm and have sufficient to eat and to preserve our fields and grazing for the future.”

However, she said there were “so many urgent jobs to do” on the stables, a number of which are old and were used in the Second World War by the MoD so need lots of maintenance such as cutting down the cold drafts and making and fitting top stable doors where there currently are none.

She added that the big barn needed dividing and walls putting up so that it could be made better use of, to bring more animals out of the mud.

Other jobs included building protection for the sanctuary’s chickens since the outbreak of avian flu, and ditches needed clearing so that water currently standing in the fields could drain away.

“The list seems endless. Our big problem is that we do not have enough staff and volunteers to do all the jobs that need doing,” added Valerie.

“We have just two part time maintenance men and one trustee trying their best, but if you are handy and good at DIY or know someone that is we could really do with your help.”

Volunteers can join the Sunday working parties at the sanctuary, where hot refreshments and a pasty lunch will be provided as a thank you.