Mr Gill's application had been turned down in March after inspectors visited the zoo in January and were "dismayed by the obvious deficiencies in the accommodation, the overcrowding and the lack of proper welfare and husbandry".

Inspectors said a post-mortem database, detailing the deaths of 486 animals from January 2013 to September 2016, showed "a clear picture of poor management with uncontrolled breeding and lack of any programme of preventative and curative veterinary medicine, with resultant ongoing welfare issues for the animals".

But the inspectors - Nick Jackson, director of the Welsh Mountain Zoo, Professor Anna Meredith and the borough council's veterinary adviser, Dr Matthew Brash - had also indicated in January that great strides had been made in many areas of the zoo.

Following another site visit in March they concluded sufficient changes were in place so they could be satisfied that modern zoo practices could be met and that accommodation and staffing or management was adequate for the proper well-being of the animals.

The Captive Animals' Protection Society (Caps) spoke out against the application at the meeting.

Maddy Taylor, from Caps, said the organisation was "disappointed" that councillors were being recommended to grant a four-year licence to CZCL.

The society said recent changes at the zoo "are too little too late" and should have been in place throughout the history and since Ms Brewer had been in a management position.

Ms Taylor told committee members that responsibility for past problems could not be "solely placed at the feet" of Mr Gill.

She said: "Some improvements may have been made in recent months, but it is not a new zoo. There is a history of suffering and neglect.