A crowdfunding campaign has been set up to save a family attraction in Bexley.

Butterfly Jungles at Hall Place and Gardens, which showcases 200-250 butterflies from 25 species around the world, desperately needs help from the public to stay open after years of misfortune.

Paul Allen, 46, who runs the tropical experience, told News Shopper: “It has been tough.

“I have put £100,000 of my own money into this business, and we are still in the red.”

To keep the Jungles up and running for another year, Mr Allen believes he needs to raise £20,000 from the Gofundme page.

He thinks bad weather has led to the struggles over the last few years.

“The first two years were good, but then so was the weather. Over the last couple of years, the weather has been so atrocious over the summer months, when it should be busy,” he said.

He added his concern that a lot of people do not know it even exists at Hall Place and Gardens, so “getting the word out there” is important.

The Butterfly Jungles website says it is also committed to an ‘eco-friendly’ way of business and refuses to deal in "dead stock". It says: “The days of pinning butterflies to boards is over and should stay that way.”

The centre, which opened in 2014 and has been awarded a Certificate of Excellence on TripAdvisor, also showcases several species of tropical plants.

“It’s a great pull for the kids and a nice environment,” Mr Allen said.

He started the appeal to save the Jungles on Monday (May 14) and hopes to raise the total by the end of the summer in September – as this is when the attraction will close for the winter.