Pen Farthing hopes to fly his animals, team members and their families to the UK on a privately-funded aircraft.

Defence secretary confirms he will seek a slot for the charter plane.

Nowzad founder Paul “Pen” Farthing has been given renewed hope after the UK's defence secretary confirmed that Pen, his team members and his animals may now be able to leave Afghanistan on a privately chartered aircraft.

The former Royal Marine manages a shelter currently looking after some 140 dogs and more than 40 cats supported by a veterinary team of 25 Afghan nationals.

After the Taliban took hold of the country, Mr Farthing launched an emergency fundraiser, named Operation Ark, to help his team and animals evacuate on a private charter jet.

On Monday (23 August), Prime Minister Boris Johnson gave his full backing to the mission and secured 68 visas for Nowzad staff and their families. However, the withdrawal of the animals remained a point of contention.

Defence secretary Ben Wallace previously stated that he would “prioritise people over pets” as he dismissed claims that he had blocked the charity’s evacuation mission. In an interview with Sky News, he said that should a cargo plane arrive, it would "probably sit there" and "block the airfield."

But in a succession of tweets published on Wednesday morning (25 August), Mr Wallace said that if Mr Farthing arrives at the airport with his animals, he would seek clearance for the flight.

The tweets read: "Now that Pen Farthing's staff have been cleared to come forward under LOTR I have authorised MOD to facilitate their processing alongside all other eligible personnel at (Kabul airport). At that stage, if he arrives with his animals we will seek a slot for his plane.”

"If he does not have his animals with him he and his staff can board an RAF flight. I have been consistent all along, ensuring those most at risk are processed first and that the limiting factor has been flow THROUGH to airside NOT airplane capacity."

Mr Farthing previously announced that Nowzad had raised enough money for the private aircraft, adding that the animals would go into the cargo hold and that there would be spare seats for other people seeking to flee Kabul.

He tweeted: “The cargo hold is empty - we put the dogs and cats in there!! And 250 people above in the cabin!”