Slithering snakes, crawling tarantulas and peaceful tortoises were all on hand to help an animal centre raise funds for Children in Need.

Surrey Reptile Centre, Hersham, held a handling day on Saturday, November 26, where children and adults could touch and learn more about the animals in the mini-zoo at the centre.

Funds were raised through raffle tickets, with one lucky winner able to work with the animals for a day.

Local restaurants provided meal vouchers as prizes.

Owner Mark Sherren, 48, said: “As we obviously cannot charge for people to handle the animals by law, people were still happy to donate to the fundraising.”

Staff members also took part in raising money for Pudsey and one did a sponsored cycle ride.

Surrey Reptile Centre reopened five weeks ago, with many animals on display.