ZOO keeper Sam Tull beat his £3,000 target as he ran a double marathon wearing Crocs on his feet to raise funds for a new crocodile house in West Somerset.

The money will help Tropiquaria Zoo, at Washford Cross, near Watchet, cover the cost of building a home for African dwarf crocodile Munchkin, which has to be moved after outgrowing its accommodation in Bournemouth Oceanarium.

Munchkin replaces much-loved spectacled caiman Mrs Nasty, which was the zoo’s oldest resident until it died of an old age condition in January.

Mr Tull ran 52 miles from Seaton, on the East Devon coast, to Watchet.

However, the run coincided with one of the hottest days of the year so far and for safety reasons it had to be paused after nine hours of running and 32 miles covered.

He returned later to complete the final 20-mile leg of his ‘feat in the heat’.

As he was doing so, Tropiquaria finished its new crocodile pond with help from an expert team at DU Waterscapes.

A spokesperson said: “It looks amazing.

“Work will press on now to build the rest of the enclosure around it, and we are hoping our brand new crocodile house will have an opening date in early July.

“We are so grateful to everybody who supported Sam and the zoo, we cannot wait to welcome you to our new croc house shortly.

“We are sure Munchkin is going to be right at home.

“The DU Waterscapes team have done a brilliant job yet again and we could not be happier.”

Mr Tull’s GoFundMe fund-raising page will remain open until the new crocodile house is complete.

The spokesperson said: “If anybody would like to contribute, it all goes a long way to helping us develop our little zoo.”