A Gloucestershire bird park has been awarded £171,000 towards a new visitor and animal welfare building.

Prinknash Bird and Deer Park owner, Melanie Meigh, said: “It’s absolutely fantastic – we’ve been working towards this since 2008.”

She said the process of applying for the grant had taken nearly three years.

Work is due to begin next month. The money has come from the department for the environment, food and rural affairs (DEFRA).

Ms Meigh added: “It’s a bit like an endurance test and an awful lot of paperwork. Our first submission was just over 1,800 pages.

“The building is going to cost just under £500,000 but thankfully the park is open as a lot of the funds come from the public and we already have planning permission so everything is in place to build.”