Donkey site sale brings in £1m for city

A former animal sanctuary in Leeds has sold for £1m, smashing its guide price by more than £300,000.

- by James Connolly

The three-acre site on Swan Lane in Eccup was previously leased by the Donkey Sanctuary, which closed down last year.

It went under the hammer with Pugh Auctions earlier this month.

Leeds City Council, which owned the land and buildings, confirmed the sale was part of ongoing efforts to plug a budget gap of more than £100m.

The authority had set a guide price of £790,000 for the site, but fierce bidding drove the final sale price up to £1,110,000.