A North-East animal lover is retiring after dedicating 14 years of her life to holding jumble sales in aid of animal charities. Julia Breen reports.

MAUREEN Bell's husband has not been able to get a hammer out of his garden shed for 14 years.

And trying to put a pair of shoes in the cupboard under the stairs was out of the question in the Bell household.

Every spare inch of their Darlington home was full of electric kettles, Mills and Boon novels and woolly jumpers.

For Mrs Bell has spent 14 years of her life putting her heart and soul into holding jumble sales at her local church hall.

Being surrounded by tortoises, snakes and dogs as a child has made her passionate about animal causes.

She has even bequeathed her semi-detached home, in Cockerton, to the Donkey Sanctuary.

But now, after 14 years of hosting jumble sales and a lifetime of helping animal charities, Mrs Bell is to retire from her voluntary work, because of minor angina attacks.

She said: "I'll miss it. Selling a pair of trousers for 10p used to give me a buzz.

"With every item I sold, I would feel really glad that I was helping my little animal friends."

During the past 14 years, she has held more than 100 jumble sales, sold thousands of pairs of trousers, two thousand books and endless items of bric-a-brac.

She has raised more than £20,000 for charities such as the RSPCA, the National Canine Defence League, the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund and the Redwings Horse Sanctuary.

Her jumble sales only lasted an hour, but people would travel from far and wide to bargain-hunt, and Mrs Bell always raised more than £200 at each event.

Generous benefactors from all over Darlington and the surrounding area would give books, clothing and bric-a-brac.

Mrs Bell would drop everything at a moment's notice to go and pick up the goods.

She said: "People were so generous, they donated beautiful things. The sales became quite well known for having nice things.

"I would have the books in one place, the clothing in another and there was a bric-a-brac stall and a tombola.

"Everything that wasn't sold in the hour I would donate to the Salvation Army and the charity shops in Darlington."

Mrs Bell began holding the jumble sales with her friend after stories about cruelty to animals in the newspapers.

She said: "I needed to do something to help, and I couldn't keep sending all my own money, so we decided to start raising cash.

"I love animals and have always had a dog, until recently. But I think my favourite animals are donkeys.

"I feel so sorry for them when I see them on the beaches."

Mrs Bell has been an honoured guest at many of the animal sanctuaries she has helped, including the Donkey Sanctuary, in Devon.

"I loved it there," she said. "The lady started off with a handful of donkeys and she has got 8,000 now.

"There are donkeys everywhere. I was in heaven when I visited."