Percy the peacock showed off his magnificent tail feathers to welcome back the first visitors through the gates of Stansted's Mountfitchet Castle and Normal Village this weekend.

The menagerie of deer, goats, chickens and even a pea hen and her chick, who have not seen a single visitor since March, saw a steady stream of people once more.

Owner Jeremy Goldsmith said with new systems in place to protect the public and staff, the reopening had gone "very well".

He said: "We have been open for 35 years and when you suddenly change how people come into the attraction with new systems, we didn't know how it was going to work. We spent a lot of time setting everything up and the devil in the detail paid off."

Customers had given positive feedback and "it was lovely to people out again", Jeremy added.

And the animals were delighted: "The first person they see in the mornings they go bounding over to, it's lovely to see. And for all the businesses in the village, it's good to see the blood flowing through the body of Stansted again. It all went stagnant for a while, but it's flowing again."

The castle in Lower Street is currently operating a booking system and one-way route round the ancient castle site.

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