A popular family Christmas event has become Chester's second casualty of Storm Desmond.

Chester Zoo was forced to cancel Saturday's Lantern Magic event due to 'extreme adverse weather conditions'.

A number of parents have taken to Facebook to vent their anger at what they said was late decision making.

The Zoo posted on its Facebook page at 12.41pm to say it would not be able to put on the Lantern event for those booked in.

But Tim Buckle said: "Shame we didn't find out it was cancelled until we arrived at the zoo. I'm surprised the decision was made so late in the day given that we knew Desmond was coming. Very annoying as I checked at lunchtime and nothing was mentioned. Perhaps there's a role for text message alerts in the future."

Apology issued

The Zoo has apologised to all those booked in and has promised either a full refund or the option to switch to another date.

A full statement said: "Anyone booked on to the event this evening will receive either a full refund, or the option to switch to another date between Sunday 6 Dec - Weds 23 Dec (exact date subject to availability).

"Please contact our team on 01244 380280 or via guest.services@chesterzoo.org and we'll get this sorted for you as soon as we possibly can. Please just bear with us for the next few hours whilst we do this.

"We really do apologise for any inconvenience caused."

On Friday the Santa's Grotto at Delamere Forest had to be closed due to the high winds.

Were you due to be going to Lantern Magic? What do you think about the decision? Let us know in the comments below