GENEROUS staff and customers at a Hampshire bakery has helped an eight-year-old donkey start a new life at an animal sanctuary.

She was named Chocolate Muffin by Ros and Jason Judd, owners of Fair Oak's The Oven Door Bakery. They launched a 'Save the Donkey' fundraising drive.

Ann Hillman, who runs the St Francis Animal Welfare Shelter, is a bakery customer and she explained the donkey's plight when she popped in for a loaf of bread.

Ann had heard the donkey's owner wanted £200 or the animal would be sold to an abattoir.

She said: "We had to act fast because the donkey was going to be sold for meat."

The shelter does not have money to spare but when Ann explained the situation the bakery owners swung into action and in next to no time Save the Donkey posters were appearing all over the shop walls and there were collection buckets on the counter.

Ros said: "In a couple of hours we raised £25 and within a few days we'd got £200. We sent a collection tin out with our sandwich van and the workers on the building sites were putting in £5 notes."

In total, the bakery managed to raise £378 and the extra money will go towards vet's bills for Chocolate Muffin who was severely lame when she arrived at the shelter.

Ann said: "One of her hooves was so overgrown it was like a Turkish slipper, which made it extremely uncomfortable for her to walk."

It will take months to get her hooves back in shape, involving regular visits from the farrier and Ann says further donations are welcome.

Chocolate Muffin will spend the rest of her life at the animal shelter where she will share a paddock with two other ponies, September and Bugsy.

They were also facing a death sentence when St Francis stepped in to save them.

Anyone who would like to make a donation can do so on-line at www.sfaw.co.uk.