A St Neots man is turning his passion into an attraction by opening up a birds of prey centre.

Rob Crisp, of Montague Square, in Eynesbury, has teamed up with life-long birds of prey enthusiast Stuart Allan to open up Hill Farm Bird of Prey and Wildlife Rescue.

The pair, who were granted planning permission to open up the centre last year, started working on the idea after outgrowing the space in their own homes to take in rescue birds.

“We have got about 30 birds between us. Stuart’s back garden, garage and aviaries are full so we need to get on and build the centre as turning rescues away is heartbreaking,” said Mr Crisp.

“We look after captive birds of prey for those people who don’t have an aviary and didn’t fully know how to look after them. So we offer them [the birds] a forever home.”

The pair were given the site by the landowner for £1 for the next 10 years, after seeing the trade it brought in. Mr Allan has been displaying his birds at the site for a number of years.

Mr Crisp added: “Stuart became my falconry mentor after I saw him up at the farm and it has gone from there.”

The 40-year-old now has four aviaries at his home, with some of its inhabit-ants including barn owls.

The centre will be a not-for-profit organisation and aims to allow schools and organisations with 30 miles of the farm, in Chesterton, near Peterborough, in free of charge.

“What we want to do is to get the next generation involved in the environment, wildlife and nature,” Mr Crisp, who currently works in sales, said.

“To be able to help such birds is absolutely amazing but I want to be able to do this for Stuart, for him to be able to do this is brilliant.”

It is hoped that the centre will be open by the end of the year but the friends are looking for people to help out with the build.

The pair are hoping to be able to get funding from the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs diversity grant, but would also like to hear from those who could lend their time.

?To help, e-mail hillfarmbirdsofprey@gmail.com.