Golden ticket offer for safari park fans

A teenage chocolatier has turned Willy Wonka for real by putting golden tickets in his chocolate bars to win days out at a top Midland attraction.

Chokolit firm boss Louis Barnett, aged 18, has joined forces with staff at the West Midland Safari Park in Bewdley to run the scheme. A total of 41 tickets will be placed in Louis' Biting

Back bars, which already support conservation charities and animal welfare. Two of the bars will contain VIP passes for a guided tour around the park.

They will also allow the winners to feed some of the animals.

Other prizes are four family passes, a ticket to see and take part in feeding the cheetahs and free food vouchers for the park.

The search for the golden tickets in bars on sale at the park will begin on Saturday.

Louis set up his chocolate company in the garage of his home in Enville Road, Kinver, aged 12 when he left school after being diagnosed with dyslexia and dyspraxia. His Chokolit range - named after the way he used to spell the word - soon became so successful that he moved production to a factory in Bridgnorth.

A supporter of animal welfare charities, he launched the Biting Back bars so 10p from the sale of each goes directly to a protection organisation.

They have already raised thousands of pounds for charity.

Louis visited the safari park himself to launch the golden ticket scheme and meet some of the animals.

"I have sometimes been described as a Willy Wonka figure myself so what better way of giving out prizes than by golden tickets?" said Louis.

"Obviously I got the inspiration for the scheme from the book Charlie and the Chocolate Factory."

West Midland Safari Park spokesman Wendy Jackson said: "We have stocked Louis' Biting Back bars for many years now so this was a natural progression."