Shepreth Wildlife Park director recalls 'terror' of lockdown

The director of a small zoo has described how she felt "terror" as the reality of the coronavirus pandemic hit a year ago with the first national lockdown.

Rebecca Willers, from Shepreth Wildlife Park in Cambridgeshire, said she only expected the lockdown to last a couple of weeks, but soon saw the scale of the challenge that lay ahead - with animals still needing to be fed.

As the site plans to reopen on 12 April, Ms Willers said it had lost more than £500,000 in income in the past year, but had been kept afloat thanks to the generosity of supporters.

"A couple that used to visit here regularly sent a cheque for £10,000. So I rang them up and actually burst into tears," she said.