GUN USE at Blackpool Zoo is causing concern after the controversial killing of a fox cub on Friday.

Staff at the tourist attraction destroyed a lone cub early on Friday morning. The zoo says it was shot after it was found in the howler monkey enclosure.

No vet was present, though the killing 'would have been humane' the zoo insisted.

But no record of a shooting will exist, and marksmen don't even have to sign guns out of the secure area in which they are kept, The Citizen has learned.

"There are specific licence holders within the zoo team that have permission to use firearms," said a zoo spokesperson.

"I have been informed that they are the only people to have access to firearms and I have also been told that as the guns remain on zoo property there is no requirement for a log-out or records procedure."

The running of Blackpool Zoo was transferred from Blackpool Council to private company Grant Leisure in a deal sealed last April, although the council is still responsible for licensing the zoo.

Opposition leader, Cllr Peter Callow, said despite other security measures, he was 'horrified' that weapons are not logged out, and no records kept of their use.

The council's public protection (licensing) committee should take note, he said.

"Throughout the country there has to be tighter controls on weapons.

"Certainly at the zoo that is one area where we can take some enforcement action.

"As a committee we can't just wash our hands of the zoo and we should look at all aspects of safety.

"I'm horrified that unlicensed people might be wandering around there with firearms."

It is understood that a keeper told managers the fox cub had been shot, and that staff are taken at their word when they say how an animal has been killed.

It is not known how old the cub was, though one source said it was possibly 'the size of a kitten'.

The zoo said two, small holes were found in the area's boundary and these were immediately re-sealed.

"Foxes are a major problem in animal parks throughout the UK," said the zoo's spokesperson.

"We instigate tight security measures and daily inspections to control all vermin including foxes, however foxes are extremely cunning and when we find that controls have been breached and foxes are on site they are shot.

"Blackpool Zoo has been the victim of several blood-thirsty attacks by foxes on wild fowl and small primates in the past and due to the increase in numbers of urban foxes we have had to be particularly vigilant this year."

An RSPCA spokeswoman said the animal welfare charity did not oppose the killing of the fox if humane.

But they expressed concern that the cub could have got into the enclosure in the first place.