The Welsh Mountain Zoo plans to improve its access for disabled people and those with mobility problems.

Neil Morris of the National Zoological Society of Wales has now applied to Conwy County Council’s planning department, seeking permission for a new boardwalk.

If the application is granted, a new access boardwalk will be built adjacent to the tigers and red squirrels, in lieu of the existing steps.

In a letter to the council, a spokesman for the zoo explained: “The zoo premises, being a hillside site, presents some degree of challenges for access around the site for disabled persons or people with some degree of mobility impairment.

“In recent years disability-friendly and accessible toilet facilities have been provided beneath the Safari Cafe with a disability-friendly boardwalk access across the slope to access the toilet facilities.

“However, from the location down past the tigers and towards the red squirrels, the visitors to the zoo are faced with the uneven and narrow steps down past the tigers to access the lower path; these steps are extremely difficult for anyone with a mobility impairment to negotiate, and the steps are completely unusable by wheelchair users.

“The managers of the zoo have identified this as a key area where access can be vastly improved by the provision of a boardwalk access that can traverse the hillside slope to provide disability-friendly access arrangements for both staff and visitors to the zoo.”

The boardwalk will be painted juniper green with a steel frame, timber handrails, and a brown woodgrain effect with millboard decking planks.

The application will now be debated by Conwy’s planning committee.