Record-breaking attendance over the Christmas holiday was the icing on the cake for Cattle Country Adventure Farm Park, which is planning further expansion this year.

The park near Berkeley in South Gloucestershire has won its third Certificate of Excellence in a row from Trip Advisor, on the back of a stack of glowing reviews ranging from brilliant to amazing. The overall attraction rating was 4.5.

General Manager Stuart Burnell was over the moon with the better-than-ever attendance figures and feedback from visitors - and promised even more improvements in 2019.

He said: "We are part-way through an ambitious investment programme to expand the restaurant and improve visitor facilities. The new restaurant should be ready in time for the summer and will also provide a number of additional jobs locally.

"2018 was over best year ever with visitors travelling from as far as Cornwall to see the calves, lambs and piglets, as well as the highly popular unicorns.

"After the success of our unicorn events, we have teamed up with 'Pampered Ponies' to run pony riding weekends, starting on Saturday 26th January and continuing until March."

The adventure farm park, opened in the early 1990s with just an indoor play barn on a working farm, has expanded its range of activities to keep the whole family happy. In addition to the many attractions, boating lake, trampolines, slides and soft-play, young visitors also have an opportunity to find out how the farm works, with a large number of animal activities, farm trail walks and tractor rides.

Stuart said: "We aim to keep children busy from 10am until 4pm, with a full range of all-weather activities. We also encourage an understanding of what farms do, covering basic animal husbandry, rare breeds and agriculture, and also look at living a healthy lifestyle and the importance of enjoying the open air."