Chester Zoo has urged visitors to let it know in advance if they can’t make it to their bookings after more than 1,000 people failed to turn up this week.
The zoo, which is currently operating on a pre-booking system, has seen several occasions where visitors haven’t turned up despite booking, meaning many others have missed out.
The attraction is already welcoming less visitors since having to reduce numbers in order to stick to Government guidelines on social distancing and being ‘Covid secure’.
Typically, this time of year would see Chester Zoo welcome as many as 15,000 visitors.
The zoo spokesperson told Cheshire Live : "Essentially, lots of people have supported us over the last few months and showed a lot of love towards us, and continue to do so by booking tickets, which is amazing.
"But on a few occasions this week we’ve had a number of days where more than 1,000 members haven’t turned up and visited the zoo – despite booking slots.
"We know it’s not just us seeing this issue at the moment as a few other attractions, such as Kew Gardens and the National Trust, have seen a similar thing happen too.
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"But we urge people to let us know that if their plans change, that they please, please let us know and cancel their booking."
The spokesperson added: "We’ve seen a huge demand for tickets since reopening. To see so many tickets go unused is incredibly hard for us, especially knowing how many members have been in touch to say they’ve missed out on tickets.
"By releasing tickets it gives us the chance to make them available to other members who are able to visit us – other members that may not have been able to come to see us at all so far."
If you’re unable to attend your booking slot, you can cancel and let the zoo know here .
