Even the animals at Longleat enjoyed their Christmas dinner when they were given brussels sprouts last week for a festive treat.

Although not everyone's favourite taste of Christmas, the sprouts proved surprisingly popular with the giraffes, monkeys and even cockatoos.

Keepers have also been letting the animals graze on the Christmas trees which have been grown in the estate.

Longleat’s Ian Turner said: “Sprouts aren’t universally liked among the staff here but they’re going down surprisingly well with our monkeys, giraffes and even our cockatoos.

“We planted out some sprout stalks in the monkey drive-through and our rhesus monkeys couldn’t get enough of them. Even our marmosets and cockatoos in the Animal Adventure seemed to enjoy getting to grips with them.

“They also went down well with the giraffes although they were even more taken with the taste of our home-grown Christmas trees and the edible decorations."

The marmoset monkey keepers went one step further and gave them Christmas trees decorated with edible ball balls and mini Father Christmas.