A NUMBER of Sale town centre businesses are set to become 'zookeepers' for eight weeks of the summer when an outdoor art exhibition by community group Two by Two is launched.

Giraffes, elephants, and a whole host of chimpanzees are among the latest additions to the Sale Art Zoo project thanks to the support of the town's businesses.

Sale Art Zoo is a project celebrating Chester Zoo founder George Mottershead’s connection to Sale, culminating in a vibrant display of colourfully decorated life-size animal sculptures through the town centre this July.

George Mottershead was born in Sale Moor in 1894 and lived in the area for more than 30 years before moving to Upton by Chester to create Chester Zoo in 1930.

Two by Two has two major sponsors for the grand outdoor menagerie that will take to the streets this summer. They are the Square Shopping Centre, which has adopted a 12ft giraffe who will take up residence in the Square; and VAO Waterside restaurant, who will have a 5ft elephant on display on Waterside Plaza.

Diane Smith, centre manager for the Square Shopping Centre, said: “This will be a fantastic event for the town, and we’re very excited to be taking part. We are busy planning lots of activities and fun competitions to celebrate our new animal resident in The Square.”

Juan Eslava, of Vao restaurant in Sale, said: “We are really excited by the idea of the Sale Art Zoo and believe the exhibition will bring a lot of fun and colour to the Waterside Plaza.

"We have organised our own 'Elephantistic Fun Day', inviting families to come and take part in painting our life sized elephant. We hope to welcome many local people to join the fun on Saturday, May 14.”

Around 35 zoo animals will be on display for the eight week exhibition, comprising baby hippos, rhino, alligators, pelicans, penguins, zebra and giraffes that have been decorated by children across all 19 primary schools in Sale.

The Sale Art Zoo will be a free activity for visitors, families and residents to do over the summer holidays. Tesco in Sale has offered to print all 10,000 Sale Art Zoo Trail Maps will be distributed in store and around town, inviting people to follow the animal trail across the town.

A number of businesses have also sponsored several model chimpanzees. Serendipitea, St Paul’s Toddler Group, Life-Tots at The Life Centre, Bean & Brush Café, Skipton Building Society, Trafford CIL, Jets Estate Agents and Traders Outlet have all adopted chimps that will be on display in shop-windows and cafes across Sale.

Two by Two organiser Anna Chopping commented “It’s brilliant that the local businesses have got onboard with the project, and with their continued support we hope to create a real impact on the streets of Sale this Summer, bringing lots of visitors to the centre and really putting Sale on the map.”

Zoe Taylor, Two by Two founder said “The project has gathered so much support over the past 12 months, with more than 5000 local school children decorating the animal sculptures.

"We’ve led intergenerational workshops, we’ve had local artists, families and countless volunteers helping us pull everything together.

"Sale will be able to take great pride in this fantastic event.”

The animals take to the streets of Sale on July 22 and the display will run until September 11. An exhibition about George Mottershead will run for the duration at Sale Library.