THE future of Whittington Castle is far from secure after managers have taken the decision to close from 4pm on Friday because of the coronavirus outbreak.

Sue Ellis, castle manager at the popular tourist attraction, says the call was made largely through the number of volunteers over the age of 70 who will more than likely have to self-isolate in the coming weeks.

She says that because of uncertainly around any governmental financial help – coming so soon after the flooding last month – the castle is hoping on financial support through donations or car park use in order to help it re-open once the outbreak is contained.

And Sue also called on people to remember a vital part of the attractions at the castle – the wildlife.

"The fact that we've got to close the castle is not very nice," she said.

"We're closing all of the indoors aspects – the tea room, the toilets and gift shop – from 4pm on Friday until further notice.

"Plus, all of our events are postponed until the end of May, at least. But the grounds will be open all of the time and people can still use them to exercise.

"We're also appealing to people to come and feed the wildlife here. You can get duck food from the pets shop over the road – The Waggy Tail Club – for as long as they stay open.

"We will be starting up a crowdfunding site for anyone wishing to donate to us so we can raise funds to help us have enough money to re-open too.

"We don't know what money we're going to get off the government and we've also been hit by the floods recently too.

"The castle is a charity as well as a tourist site and all of our staff are on temporary redundancies.

"People can use the car parks too and put money in the machines because they will be emptied each night.

"We rely on our volunteers but because they're all over 70, they've had to go into self-isolation.

"Lastly, I want to say thank you to all the people who have supported us for the 13 years since we re-opened after the restoration and hopefully we'll be back."

For more details on how to donate, please head to info@whittingtoncastle.co.uk