THE mother of a keeper mauled to death by a tiger at South Lakes Safari Zoo says it should be shut down.

Fiona McClay spoke out in the aftermath of David Gill's application for a new licence to run the Dalton attraction being refused.

Barrow councillors rejected the request after hearing there were some 486 animal deaths at the zoo between January 2013 and September 2016.

Mrs McClay, whose daughter Sarah, 24, was killed at the zoo four years ago, says the park should be shut down because there continues to be concerns about how it is being run.

She added: "I think it should close, because this new company is formed by existing staff," said Ms McClay, from West Lothian, who said there remains concerns about way the zoo is being run.

"It would seem nothing has changed there. I would hope the zoo would be closed to the public until things are sorted out."

Mr Gill has 28 days to appeal the decision of the licensing committee during which the zoo may remain open.

He has handed management over to the Cumbria Zoo Company Ltd and indicated he also plans to sell the zoo to that group.

The zoo company's application for a licence to run the park, which houses 1,500 animals including tigers, giraffes and rare birds, is yet to be heard.

The animals that have died or been put down include two snow leopard cubs found partially eaten in their enclosure and a three-year-old white rhino which was crushed against a barrier.

Seven healthy lion cubs and five young baboons were also "euthanised" because there was not enough room for them.

A sloped yard finished with smooth instead of rough concrete caused a giraffe to slip to its death.

The distressing catalogue of injuries and illnesses endured by a wide range of species at the site has been branded the worst seen in 60 years by national campaigning charity the Captive Animal Protection Society.

Maddie Taylor, of the charity, also called for closure, saying: "Our visit to the zoo, combined with the zoo inspectors' reports, shows high death rates of animals, animals in ill health and a lack of understanding about how to meet even the most basic needs of the animals under their care."

The zoo was fined £297,500 and ordered to pay £150,000 prosecution costs over the next 10 years over health and safety breaches connected to the death of Ms McClay.

Inspectors said the post-mortem database, detailing the deaths of 486 animals showed "a clear picture of poor management with uncontrolled breeding and lack of any programme of preventative and curative veterinary medicine".