A tourist business will close following what they say was a result of their impact on the environment.

The Wooly Farm, in Santon Bridge, offers llama, alpaca walks and meet and greets.

A spokesperson from the business announced: "It is with very heavy hearts that we have to tell you that after our Christmas event this year, the Woolly Farm will be closing to the public.

"We received a letter from the Lake District National Park Authority [on November 15] telling us that they will not support a tourist business like ours because of the impact we have on the local environment, despite the fact that we also farm and breed sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas and pigs.

"We have been forced to fight a lot over the last year and for our own mental health have decided that we won’t fight any more.

"Instead of offering meet and greets and llama and alpaca walks to locals, tourists, local care homes and charities alongside our breeding and farming activities, we will instead focus solely on improving and expanding our breeding programmes to breed excellent animals that will go to wonderful homes.

"We set out with a love of animals and a desire to share some of the joy they bring us.

"We didn’t know that we were doing anything wrong.

"We have our animal exhibition licence, our environmental health licence and insurance.

"We weren’t hiding in the shadows, we were proud of what we’d built and of the responses we’ve had from customers who’ve come to the farm.

"We choose not to be bitter and angry at the way things have ended up; instead we will take the happiness we saw from people of all ages, the unforgettable friends we’ve made, and the lifelong memories.

"We will still offer educational visits to our schools and lovely charities and we will honour any gift vouchers that have already been purchased.

"We may be able to offer occasional walks, but won’t know until things have settled down."

A spokesperson from the Lake District National Park Authority said: "There is an ongoing planning enforcement investigation here and we can’t comment further."