A civil dispute between the landlords of a Cumbrian zoo and its tenants is to be heard in court this week.
The dispute between South Lakes Safari Zoo’s landlords Zoo Investment Company and Yorkshire Wildlife Park and tenants Cumbria Zoo Company saw the zoo closed to visitors yesterday.
Staff at the zoo claim they were denied access to the animals and have lodged legal proceedings with the courts. They claim that the gates to the zoo were locked.
A spokeswoman for Cumbria Zoo Company said a civil court hearing would be held on Thursday.
The zoo reopened to visitors this morning.
A spokeswoman for Cumbria Zoo Company said: “We are back open today and have been from 10am – welcoming back our visitors. Cumbria Zoo will issue an update shortly.
As you can imagine we have had lots to do over night to ensure animals have been fed and watered and to be able to open the gates this morning.
“The civil matters between us as tenants and our landlords are being dealt with and will be back in court on Thursday.”
