Sick and abandoned cats are being cared for by The Sheffield Cat Shelter which has opened a new store in Broomhill to raise funds.

Store Manager Antonio Cruz, 32, said: “There was quite a queue at the opening, it was quite exciting. I’ve never seen that before in my 12 years of working in retail.

“We need to make the money through our retail stores because we need more space. If we can generate more money, we could have a bigger shelter or get more cats.”

The Sheffield Cat Shelter takes between 80 and 100 cats and has a large waiting list. It looks after cats in need of care with hopes of rehoming them.

They are based in Broomhall and have two charity shops, one on Ecclesall Road and the other in Hillsborough.

“Most of the cats have been neglected and treated poorly, so it’s great when they get to a place of feeling normal again and feel like they can be loved,” said Cruz.

Frankie Seaman, patron of The Sheffield Cat Shelter, said: “Our big goal now is to find a plot of land where we can build somewhere because it’s been 126 years that this charity has been around so we want to make sure that we can look after it for the future generations of cats that we can help.”

Becky Churcher, 49, has adopted cats from the Sheffield Cat Shelter.

She said: “We went to the Sheffield Cat Shelter and met Snowy. He had been abandoned along with his sister and had been brought into the shelter with cat flu. He had been in the shelter for quite some time.

“The Sheffield Cat Shelter get as much information as they can about the cats to make sure they are placed in the right homes. They treat the cats with love and care.”

The shelter is looking for volunteers in a range of roles such as socialising with the cats, cat cleaning, admin roles and retail staff.