A BITTER row has erupted at Greenmount Wild Bird Hospital, leading to the intervention of the Charities Commission.

Supporters of the charity declared Tuesday's annual general meeting "a farce", after the two sides battling to take control of the bird hospital in the Kirklees Valley clashed over election papers.

The charity watchdog was alerted after one party claimed voting papers to elect a new committee were collected after the meeting was officially closed.

Bury man Mr Higham Russell, who spearheaded a campaign to reinstate the founder of Greenmount Wild Bird Hospital, Irena Zalasiewicz, has now accused the present committee of "jigger-pokery".

Mrs Zalasiewicz, who started the sanctuary from scratch more than 20 years ago, has been locked in battle with the charity's present committee members over the way the hospital is run.

The meeting, held at the Canon Lewis Hall in Holcombe Brook was eventually abandoned and 119 voting papers were collected and handed to an independent body.

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