A Northumberland attraction has made it onto a list of the best zoos in the country.

Northumberland College Zoo, based at Kirkley Hall just outside of Ponteland, was ranked as the 12th best zoo in the UK.

The list of 15 zoos was compiled by Parkdean Resorts, and took into account entry costs, the range of animal attractions, and the percentage of five-star TripAdvisor reviews.

Scoring an impressive 65.2 per cent out of 100, Northumberland College Zoo was commended for having 150 species of animals, 45 per cent of TripAdvisor reviews being 5 stars, and one of the cheapest entry fees on the list - £6.95.

Steven Sykes, resource manager at Northumberland College Zoo, said: “We’re over the moon.

“We’ve always wanted to be a really good value family day out and we haven’t put our prices up in four years.

“We’re chuffed that what we do and how we do it has got such good feedback from people!”

Northumberland College Zoo, formerly known as Kirkley Hall Zoological Gardens, is home to wallabies, meerkats and lemurs.

It opened its outdoor areas in April when permitted by the Government, with indoor spaces following in May.

Though many of its animal encounters aren’t going ahead at the moment, visitors can usually feed meerkats and walk with wallabies. And when restrictions are fully lifted, there’ll be a new building at Kirkley Hall for visitors to get up close and personal with the zoo’s reptiles!

Steven continued: “We’re really excited because we haven’t yet opened our reptile room to the public.

“When we do, there’ll be species like corn snakes, cockroaches and snails. We hope to open on July 19!”

According to Parkdean Resorts’ list, Tilgate Nature Centre in West Sussex is the nation’s number one zoo with an Index Score of 86.6, with Kirkleatham Owl Centre in North Yorkshire coming in second at 77.1.

The top five is rounded off by Five Sisters Zoo in West Lothian, Scotland; Wild Discovery in Lancashire; and Askham Bryan Wildlife and Conservation Park in Yorkshire.