Dudley Zoo's website crashes as limited edition passes go on sale

The attraction announced earlier this week that it would return to the Zoo and Castle name it last used almost two decades ago, after officially being known as Dudley Zoological Gardens.

And to celebrate the name change and 950th anniversary of Dudley Castle, bosses launched 950 Four Seasons passes this morning offering people the chance to visit all year round at a heavily discounted price.

But such high demand in getting hold of the limited edition passes caused Dudley Zoo and Castle's website to crash with technical difficulties.

The tickets sold out within five hours of going on sale – with zoo staff dealing with hundreds of calls when the website went down.

Bosses have since apologised for the website difficulties – but have said they were delighted with the response to the tickets.

Rachel Hickman, media and communications officer at Dudley Zoo and Castle, said: "To commemorate the 950th anniversary of Dudley Castle we launched 950 Four Seasons passes this morning (January 2) to offer people the chance to visit Dudley Zoo and Castle all year round at a heavily discounted price.

"Unprecedented demand for these limited edition passes resulted in our website crashing and zoo staff manned phone lines as we dealt with hundreds of calls and within five hours all tickets had sold out.

"We apologise for the technical difficulties but we have been delighted with the response and look forward to welcoming our new pass holders to the zoo throughout 2020."