The owner of Cattows Farm at Heather says he arranged for two months' worth of hay to be donated to Twycross Zoo because it is 'part of the fabric of this area'.

Twycross had been been left fighting for its survival as a change in the law by the Government saw zoos added to a list ordered to stay closed 'indefinitely' during the lockdown.

Late on Tuesday night though, the Government gave the go ahead for zoos to re-open next Monday.

But Coronavirus has hit the zoo hard financially with income from visitors drying up.

That has seen a number of people do what they can to raise funds and save the Leicestershire attraction.

And Cattows Farm owner James Ludlam decided to do his bit by donating the hay.

He told Ashby Nub News: "Twycross has been finding it tough along with zoos the length and breadth of the country.

"We have an affinity with them, it's part of the fabric of this part of Leicestershire.

"Having gone there myself as a child and then taking my own children.

"But in the last couple of years, they've been a good customer of ours, every Halloween time, they order a good bulk of pumpkins of us and they decorate the zoo with those.

"And they use some for the animals as well.

"So we felt a bit of loyalty towards them. And we thought 'What can we do to help?'.

"I got in touch with them and we I said we could donate a load of hay - I didn't know if it would be of any use.

"But they said that anything we could do would be gratefully received.

"We had an opportunity to get something over to them on Tuesday and they were very grateful.

"They said there was a good couple of months' worth there."

The farm - which is also home to the Ashby Show - knows what Twycross's owners have been going through.

James added: "We work with our animals and when you care for them on a daily basis, we understand the pressures they must be under.

"Not only do they have to look after their own staff, but also the dependent animals.

"That resonated with us being farmers, we have plenty of hay so we can easily donate some to those guys."

James says it was a frustrating time for Twycross Zoo.

He added: "Those guys are ready to open at the drop of a hat.

"They have all the measures in place and feel they could open the same day when they were given the go-ahead - and they could do it safely.

"They had been frustrated that there are various parts of the hospitality sector gearing up for opening.

"You see people queuing to get into big stores yet they have acres of outdoor space they couldn't use.

"Our donation was the very least we could do. And it shows how the community feels, we put what we'd done on our social media and it was really well received. And I hope it gives the Zoo a bit more exposure."