WALPOLE Park Animal Centre, saved from closure by the Ealing Times, is finally on track to reopen.

The centre closed earlier this year when Ealing Borough Council withdrew funding.

But now council bosses and Croydon-based London Wildcare have set out a timetable for reopening the animal centre, in Walpole Park.

Members of the group sat down on Wednesday last week with council officers from the Parks and Countryside Department to thrash out a plan.

Tom Burden, of London Wildcare, said: "It all seemed very positive. To be fair, it was a brilliant meeting. We seem to have a timetable in front of us now so we know where we are headed. The main practicality is drawing up a lease which is acceptable to both parties."

The proposed lease could see the animal centre reopened in Spring next year.

Volunteers and members of London Wildcare are hoping to move into the centre to start work on improving the site and bringing it up to standard from November this year.

On Wednesday, council officers and members of London Wildcare walked round the site assessing what needs to be done.

Mr Burden said: "We hope that in September we should have a set of keys to our name."

Animals will be brought into the park by the beginning of Spring.

Ealing Borough Council do not intend to charge them anything for the lease, he added.

"It is a bit run down," he said, "and we need to make it acceptable for the 21st century."

The group is thinking of holding a public appeal to help raise the money for the improvements, later this year.

The council's parks and countryside manager, Roger Gates, supported The Ealing Times' campaign to save the much loved tourist attraction. which thousands of readers also supported.

Walpole Park Animal Centre may well be used in the future to hold injured wildlife.