The daughter of Chester Zoo founder George Mottershead has urged TV fans to support The Chronicle's online petition to bring back a show about the zoo's history , after the BBC announced they would not be renewing it for a second series.

June Williams, 88, who was involved in the production of the hugely popular Our Zoo and even made a brief cameo in one episode, is one of more than 2,000 people who have signed our petition demanding the show's return, and said that she was eager to see her family's story continue in a second series.

"I think it should come back, because the the zoo hadn't even opened by the time the first series ended - it left a lot of the story untold, such as how the zoo coped through the war years," she said.

"Lots of local people will be upset and I know little Honor who played me in Our Zoo, was upset too. I'm getting a bit long in the tooth for it all now but I had a wonderful time on the show, I got to meet so many new people and I got to relive the past. I had to dig deep into my memories but it was worth it, even if they did show it in a time slot that was too late in my opinion."

Such has been the outcry over the axing of Our Zoo that The Chronicle decided to launch the online petition to collect as many signatures as possible and send it to the BBC drama department to appeal for a second series of the show, which would continue the story of how George Mottershead followed his dream of creating the world’s first ever zoo without bars at Oakfield Manor in Upton.

We launched the petition on Wednesday evening, and by the following lunchtime, more than 1,000 had signed their names to the campaign. Since then, more have added their names, taking the total number of supporters to 2,028 (as of Monday afternoon).

Lee Ingleby portrayed George Mottershead in Our Zoo, which has not been commissioned for another series

However, we still need as many signatures as we can before 1pm on Wednesday (December 17) when we will be forwarding the petition to the BBC drama department, in the hope we can convince them to commission another series.

Comments of support for the campaign have been left by fans of the show, with John Gerrard writing: "This is as much a piece of history to Cheshire as the Romans were. This warrants another series of a magnificent story."

And E. Welch had a message for the BBC: "This can go beyond the few episodes you made. And you know it!"

Despite pulling in more than five million viewers per episode during its six-part run earlier this autumn, and being nominated for two National TV Awards , a BBC spokesperson confirmed this week that Our Zoo wouldn't be returning to our screens.

The news was a huge blow to fans of the show, many of whom described it as ‘incredible’ and ‘the best thing on TV in ages’.

But the spokesperson told The Chronicle that although it was ‘very proud’ of the show, which starred Lee Ingleby, Liz White, Anne Reid and Ralf Little as members of zoo founders the Mottershead family, a ‘hard choice’ had to be made.

“We are very proud of Our Zoo and would like to thank all those involved,” the spokesperson said. “However, in order to create room for new shows and to keep increasing the range of BBC One drama we sometimes have to make hard choices and it will not be returning for a second series.”

June's son George echoed his mother's sentiments and said: "For us it was just a wonderful family drama so we did wonder why they put it on so late, which meant that a few kids missed out because of the watershed. But it would be great if this petition worked and we could have another series."

To sign the Chronicle’s online petition click on the link below: