Zoo secures £11m visitor centre

The centre will be built to high environmental standards

Twycross Zoo has announced it has secured funding for an £11m visitor centre.

The zoo said a final grant of £3m meant it can now go ahead with the ambitious eco-friendly building.

It will contain a large gift shop and diner as well as information about the zoo and its conservation work.

Managers said it was important visitors were given a top quality experience when they arrived. Work is due to start next summer and should take 18 months.

The 300-seat diner will serve international cuisine and the gift shop will be four times larger.

Conservation message

Parts of the centre will look out on to a new snow leopard and bird sanctuary enclosure.

Some critics have said the money should have been spent on improving the animal enclosures but the zoo insisted its approach made more sense.

Kim Riley from the zoo said: "We want to offer visitors something unique, something that even passing trade will want to come to.

"Then they will see what the zoo has to offer, hear its conservation message and then be drawn into the zoo proper."

The £3m grant was given by the East Midlands Development Agency.