BARROW Borough Council has been found guilty of maladministration in health and safety issues at the high-profile South Lakes Wild Animal Park, near Dalton.

The council has also been told by the Local Government Ombudsman to pay £200 compensation to Peter Martin, a landowner living alongside the zoo, for what he has called "considerable anxiety and distress" following the escape and killing of a three-ton white rhino.

Barrow director of development Bernard Beckett has recommended that the council "take it on the chin" and accept the verdict.

Mr Martin, of Crossgates House, Dalton, said on Wednesday: "The sooner this is laid to rest the better."

At the same time, wild animal park owner David Gill welcomed the report as "totally vindicating" his safety record at the Dalton zoo.

The rare white rhino escaped from its enclosure at the beginning of May last year, blundered into an open car park and ended in a ravine where it had to be shot. Six months later Mr Gill had a total of £10,000 in fines and costs to pay, after being found guilty in court of endangering the public and failing to have adequate barriers.

This week, ombudsman Patricia Thomas ruled that Barrow council failed to:

* Carry out an inspection of the planned rhino facilities, even though Mr Gill gave "earliest" notice.

* Make sure there was a health and safety inspection before the rhino arrived.

* Ensure Mr Gill fully met the conditions of his licence regarding on-site firearms.

"This is maladministration and allowed the zoo operator an opportunity to introduce into the zoo a rhinoceros without satisfactory facilities having first been put in place to the satisfaction of the council," said the report.

"This complainant's fears and distress were legitimate given the proximity of his home to the zoo and in particular to the ravine within which the animal became trapped, was killed, and from which its body had to be removed."

However, a further investigation into planning consents given to the zoo showed no evidence that the council acted wrongly in allowing zoo extensions, the ombudsman concluded.

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