Councillors approve plans to extend popular zoo at East Coast attraction

The zoo is a major part of the attraction for visitors to Sewerby Hall, near Bridlington, with over 30 species of mammals and birds including llamas from South America, pygmy goats from Africa and Taiwanese Sika deer.

The team that runs the zoo want to ensure there's enough grazing during the summer when the existing paddocks get parched and say in the winter they can get muddy and slippery. The conditions can cause foot rot and a build up of parasites and rotating them “would significantly improve the welfare of the animals".

The number of new paths in the plans were cut following concerns from the council's conservation officer about the impact on the setting of the grade one listed Hall.

Bridlington and District Civic Society welcomed the animals getting extra space, but wasn't happy about three 3.6m high huts in one of the paddocks. They said: "This is East Yorkshire, not East Africa. If the animals housed in the paddocks were of African origin it could make sense." The council said the structures would be in a cluster of mature trees, to blend in better with the parkland.