Visitor numbers at Dudley Zoo’s festive events increased up by six per cent, it was announced today.

Santa’s grotto and performances of the Christmas Carol pantomime attracted 6,000 people between December 1 and December 24. This was 350 more than the previous year.

Zoo chief executive Peter Suddock said there were no signs that the site had been affected by the economic crisis and predicted visitor numbers would remain constant throughout 2009.

He added: “Figures for Santa’s grotto and Christmas events were far better than we expected, given the current climate.

“Adoptions and Keeper for a Day experiences remain solid and are still as popular as ever, and sales of our charity calendar did well, too.

“As an urban zoo we are immensely lucky to have a huge footfall, quite literally, on our doorstep, and it is these local people that are our loyal supporters.”