ANIMAL lovers angry at the way a colleague was axed from a cat charity have walked out.

Volunteers at the York branch of Cats Protection say they will not work for it again - in protest after Barbara Sharp was made redundant.

She worked tirelessly to help to raise £200,000 to build a new state-of-the-art centre at Huntington.

But only three weeks after it was opened, chiefs at Cats Protection head office told Mrs Sharp her contract would not be renewed - because she was too old.

The charity, based at Horsham, West Sussex, said it was because she was over 60, the age shelter managers usually retire.

That decision has led several volunteers at York, including publicity officer Neil Bellamy, to leave the charity.

Mr Bellamy said he and an unconfirmed number of other volunteers, which included Mrs Sharp's family, had pledged not to work for Cats Protection again.

The 51-year-old told the Evening Press: "I wasn't happy about the decision and decided to leave after four years as a volunteer.

"I felt that a charity, as major as Cats Protection, shouldn't treat their members of staff so appallingly.

"Barbara was very well liked and respected. She was the person you would go to if you wanted to know anything about cats.

"It was an ungracious decision and I will not be returning. However, I would urge people not to let my decision affect their giving money to the York branch. This issue was nothing to do with them."

A Cats Protection spokeswoman said: "Obviously people can form relationships in the workplace, but we can't discuss terms of employment.

"We valued very much the service given by Mrs Sharp over 11 years and an exceptional arrangement was made for her because she was over 60.

"We employed her on a fixed term basis, of which the agreed term has come to an end."

Updated: 11:46 Monday, September 17, 2001