PROTESTORS plan to meet bosses at a major DIY chain in a bid to stop the company stocking live animals at its Morecambe store.

Val Harwood of local charity Animal Care claims she already has more than one thousand signatures on her petition to stop the Focus Do-It-All chain expanding into the pet business.

Ms. Harwood has arranged the meeting following the tremendous response to her petition.

She said: "Our goal is to educate the public to not buy animals which are bred for sale.

"Unless talks with the company produce a successful conclusion and they decide to not sell live animals we will take the campaign forward and demonstrate against the proposal."

Protesters insist that the suffering and pain endured by the animals produced for a megastore environment is unacceptable.

They also claim the risk of impulse buying by shoppers makes the pet store plan inappropriate.

Ms Harwood also has the backing of local pet shop owners, who fear that their businesses could be destroyed.

Ep Blanco, of Blanco's Pet Shop in Morecambe, claims that his business is threatened by the new out of town developments. "When we opened 21 years ago their were many corner shops, but stores like Asda and Morrisons have put them out of business. We haven't a chance."

"The animals are being sold like rolls of wallpaper."

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