Bristol Zoo overspill parking row continues

Bristol Zoo bosses have failed to give an assurance it will stop using an overspill car park on the city's Downs.

At present it pays £7,500 a year to the group which manages the Downs, for using the site off Ladies Mile.

In May 2017, zoo bosses promised they would not ask again after the current permission expires in December.

At the time, Bristol City councillors noted "parking should not be taking place on the Downs" and it "needed to come to an end".

But when asked if it would stop using the land by the end of the year, a zoo spokeswoman said it was "in discussions" over its future parking arrangements, the Local Democracy Reporting Service revealed.

Susan Carter, from pressure group Downs for People, said it was "dismayed" the zoo and the Downs Committee "appear to be negotiating behind closed doors for parking to continue into the future, despite the zoo's earlier assurances that it would end this year".

"Further parking should not be negotiable, and any decisions should be taken at meetings open to the public."