Borth Wild Animal Kingdom may be permanently closed, after a judge today compulsorily wound up the business over unpaid debts of more than £100,000.

Contingency plans were already in place in case the Insolvency and Companies Court in London took the final step which it now has - despite a last-minute plea from the zoo owner.

Today’s decision comes at the end of a string of hearings at the court during which judges gave the company extra time to try to clear the debts.

The court heard that Borth Wild Animal Kingdom Ltd has unpaid debts to HM Revenue & Customs dating from July 2017 of £60,567, which form the basis of the taxman’s winding up petition, but that it also owes HMRC further amounts, bringing the total to around £100,000.

In addition it owes £22,000 to the local authority, Ceredigion council.

HMRC’s Justina Stewart told Judge Sebastian Prentis that the directors, Dean and Tracy Tweedy, had offered to pay off the tax debts at £200 a month but that was "not acceptable".

"The debts are based on the company’s own returns and go back to 2017. The company had previously entered into a Company Voluntary Arrangement in 2018 but that was terminated in 2019 for failure to make the agreed payments."

The court heard that Ceredigion council had made contingency plans for the animals’ welfare if the company was wound up.

Tracy Tweedy, 50, director and zoo owner with Dean Tweedy, 52, spoke directly to the judge at the hearing, conducted remotely online.

She told him: "Our proposal was only such a nominal amount because we have been shut for most of last year and all of this year. So obviously there is no income coming in.

"So it’s a case of waiting until we can open so we can start paying a higher amount.

"We appreciate it’s been going on for quite a long time and we have had numerous problems with having to be shut and things like that along the way which have caused huge financial problems for the company."

But Judge Prentis went ahead and made a compulsory winding up order.

He pointed out this was the seventh hearing of the petition, which was first presented on 13 January 2020.

He commented on how the Covid pandemic had "intervened severely" but continued: "Nevertheless the petition is based on the company’s own returns and VAT returns falling due from end of July 2017."

He said there had been numerous adjournments to allow settlement and for various appeals to be heard.

"But this is a company which has long-standing financial difficulties which it’s tried to solve," he said, adding that some of those were pre-pandemic.

"There are arrears of about £60,000 due on the petition. HMRC says it is owed a further £40,000 and it would be entitled to amend the petition to add that. There is also a supporting creditor, the local authority, which has in excess of £20,000 owed," said the judge.

At the last Insolvency and Companies Court hearing in November the judge accepted an offer from HMCS to give a final chance for settlement until today.

Borth Wild Animal Kingdom has since March 2017 repeatedly hit the headlines since an animal was killed after escaping and for breaching council licensing conditions.

The zoo had a number of category one animals, which included lions, lynx, wolfdogs, capuchi, grivet and patas monkeys, and pythons.

In October the court heard the company had agreed to surrender those category one animals because it did not meet a firearms licensing condition.

It is required to have certificated firearms staff living on site but changes in personnel and the first pandemic lockdown meant staff could not complete their training.

The local authority had sought a closure order but the company appealed.

In October 2017 a Eurasian lynx escaped and was shot dead by a marksman when it was found at a nearby caravan site. A few days later another lynx was found dead. It had died in what was called a handling error.

Ceredigion council issued a ban in November 2017 on Borth Wild Animals Kingdom keeping category one animals.

This decision was reversed in July 2018 following an appeal, but was subject to conditions being met. One included having a member of a firearms team on duty every day in case an animal escaped.

In January this year the zoo was served with a notice to shut its dangerous animal enclosures because of inadequate firearms arrangements.

It reopened in February.

It began taking in visitors again from 13 July after the lifting of pandemic restrictions.

Its website states it is shut "temporarily" due to the current lockdown.

Now the company has been wound up, its affairs will be handed over to an Official Receiver.

His job is to do his best to ensure that debts are paid off by selling any assets available and then bringing the business to a close.

However the owners released a statement on Thursday to say "we are not planning to close the zoo permanently". They added: "Once the dissolution of the company has been finalised, we are hoping that the zoo will be able to reopen. Meanwhile, we would like to assure you that all of our animals are continuing to be cared for by our dedicated staff and their welfare will not be compromised."