A HEREFORDSHIRE animal farm opened its own Millennium Dome' to mark national red squirrel week.

After six years of blood, sweat and tears and with a lot of help from his friends, Jay Brittain created the specialist squirrel dome at his small breeds farm, near Kington.

"About six years ago a mountain of scrap metal was delivered to my doorstep and like a giant Meccano set we had to put it all together," said Jay.

"Just like the Millennium Dome, things took a lot longer than expected and the structure was up and down more times than I can remember."

The dome houses 18 red squirrels and, even though it was opened on September 30, it was a complete coincidence this was the start of red squirrel week.

Jay said the population levels of red squirrels had been decreasing dramatically for years due to the cutting down of forestry and the disease parapoxy that only affects red squirrels.

"The week is designed to raise awareness of the plight of the red squirrel and the fact they will probably never be introduced back into the mainland," he added.

"With the dome's many platforms and ropes it is the perfect way to let people see these amazing creatures in action."
To see the video of this story, click here