THE RSPCA has revealed it has launched a new investigation into animal welfare at South Lakes Safari Zoo following the airing of a hard-hitting documentary.

Trouble at the Zoo, which aired on BBC2 on Thursday, gave a 'warts and all' account of the day-to-day running of the attraction.

Viewers saw heartbreaking scenes when a red panda cub was found to have died and the moment Nero the lion passed away.

Last April RSPCA officers launched an investigation after an autopsy list emerged charting the cause of death for hundreds of animals kept at South Lakes Safari Zoo.

It revealed animals had died of hypothermia, emaciation and infighting due to overstocked pens.

Last month the RSPCA confirmed it had concluded the investigation amid improved conditions and new management.

But following Thursday's documentary the charity has revealed it is now looking into "new allegations" regarding the death of Nero.

David Bowles, who heads up the RSPCA's campaigns and public affair work, told The Mail on Twitter that a new investigation had been launched.

He said: "We are looking at these new allegations around Nero, unknown to us when we investigated last year."

Mr Bowles was replying to a tweet in which we reported on Barrow and Furness MP John Woodcock calling for the RSPCA to re-open its investigation.

Mr Woodcock said: "It was deeply distressing to see the way Nero the lion died and the suspicion of the contaminated meat raises clear concerns of a continuing culture of neglect which may be putting other animals at risk.

"The entire zoo inspection regime needs to be overhauled but in the meantime I am asking the RSPCA formally to investigate the damning circumstances exposed in this documentary.”

Veterinary experts and state-appointed zoo inspectors laid the blame for the catalogue of animal welfare breaches listed in the autopsy report at the door of the attraction's founder David Gill who was subsequently refused a zoo licence by Barrow Borough Council.

The authority went on to award a licence to Cumbria Zoo Company which is now responsible for running the site.

The zoo's chief executive, Karen Brewer, stood by her decision to invite TV crews to the Dalton attraction.

She told The Mail: "We wanted to show that working with animals and running a complex business is emotional and is difficult and I felt the programme did capture that, and that we're all human," she said.

"When we invited them in the whole idea was to be open and transparent, to show who we are now, and that we don't want to hide behind anything,"