West Midland Safari Park bought by French firm

West Midland Safari Park has new owners after being bought by a French amusement park operator.

The Looping Group bought the Bewdley site in Worcestershire for an undisclosed sum.

The park described the move as an "exciting development" and said it would release further details later this year.

Looping said it wanted to "develop the park into an even more exciting family destination".

The safari park attracted 700,000 people last year and features a four-mile safari drive through.

Laurent Bruloy, chief executive officer of Looping, said: "We are very pleased to welcome a great management team and staff who will be key to developing the park into an even more exciting family destination, with our support and new feature investments."

It added it wanted to continue the "important role of WMSP towards animal conservation".

Looping was created in 2011 and is a leading operator of regional amusement parks in Europe.

The group consists now of 15 regional parks located in France, Switzerland, Netherlands, UK, Spain, Portugal and Germany.

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, on Twitter, and sign up for local news updates direct to your phone.