Pledges to buy a strip of land to ‘secure access’ to a dog and cats home on the edge of Plymouth now stand at £7,000.

Plymouth City Councillor Terri Beer (Ind, Plympton Erle) has been campaigning for the 0.3 acres of grass verge at the entrance of Gables at Merafield Road, Plympton to be gifted to the charity for £1.

But owner National Highways says it is not permitted to gift land to any third party.

In an email to Cllr Beer, the government-owned publicly funded company said it was required to obtain best value for the taxpayer in disposing of an asset and in this instance it was considered that this could best be achieved by bringing the asset to the open market via auction.

The land has a guide price of £2,000 and will go to auction on December 4.

Cllr Beer said the land amounted to a grass verge and was really of no use to anyone else although she understood that members of the travelling community may be interested in it.

“It’s ridiculous that National Highways are selling this. If it was April I would think it is an April’s Fools joke,” she said.

“Charities are struggling anyway and to make them have to fundraise for this land is wrong. It should be gifted as a gesture of good will.”

The councillor said she would continue working to get ‘the result we are seeking’ and is hoping to enlist the help of South West Devon Conservative MP Rebecca Smith.

Gables want to secure safety and access to its premises by acquiring the site and are concerned that the land could go for more than £2,000 on the day.

A Crowdfunder appeal was started by the charity shortly after signs went up on the land.

Gables said: “When the Merafield Road bridge was replaced back in 2016 we started making enquiries to be able to purchase this tiny strip of land that was created when the old bridge was demolished.

“We were passed back and forth between Highways England and Plymouth City Council as no one really knew what was going to happen with this land.”

Gables said it was a “huge shock” to find the signs going up.

“We feel totally disregarded as the adjacent land owner as our boundary used to go right up to the road, but as a new road and bridge were built to demolish the old one – this surplus piece of land was created – pushing our boundary back from the road.”

The charity was initially set up in 1907 by two sisters, Mrs E B Guard and Ms Agnes Grant. They cycled around Plymouth collecting stray cats and later moved on to helping dogs.

As animal numbers grew they set up a shelter in the city centre run solely by dedicated volunteers, which was officially named as the Plymouth Devonport and Stonehouse Dogs & Cats Home in 1908.

The charity was renamed Gables Farm Dogs & Cats Home in 2000, as it was found that many people thought that the local council funded the organisation due to reference of the city’s name.