Thanks a bunch!

It was so kind of 86-year-old Laurence Davies to think of our animals when he had a surplus of apples in his Wolverhampton garden.

The Castlecroft pensioner, who last visited DZG 50 years ago, decided to bring in the apples and other fruit and veg when he came to see how much the attraction has changed.

Laurence, who worked as a taxi driver for 20 years and a cinema projectionist for 20 years, delivered boxes of homegrown apples as well as grapes, beans, apricots, bananas and cabbages he picked up from the market.

He handed the produce over to storeman Mick Young and said he was especially looking forward to seeing our primates, parrots and giraffes.

Laurence said: “I’d read about the gardeners who handed over their runner beans to the chimps and thought some of the animals would enjoy apples from my garden.

“I also got some other fruit and veg from the market and brought it along. It’s probably been the best part of 50 years since I was at the zoo so it’s high time I came back for a visit to see how it has transformed.”

Store Manager Gaz Arnold said: “It was kind of Laurence to surprise us and bring in his spare apples. We do order in all the fresh fruit and veg we need every day but it was thoughtful and we hope he enjoyed his visit.”