A competition has been launched to win an overnight stay with big cats.

Visitors to Maidstone Museum can enter a raffle to be in with the chance of spending the night at the Big Cat Sanctuary in Smarden, near Headcorn.

The winner will have the opportunity to stay in a lodge getting up close and personal with more than 50 cats, including African lions, snow leopards and Sumatran tigers.

They will also be treated to afternoon tea, a three-course meal and a full English breakfast for two people.

The competition has been launched as part of the Endangered and Extinct Exhibition at the Maidstone Museum.

It is a family-friendly exhibition of sculptural animals, birds, fish and flora on the edge of extinction, or totally lost, fashioned by the recycling artist Val Hunt from throw-away materials.

It also presents messages about recycling and preservation while raising awareness of the reasons for extinction and the human impact on this planet as species disappear at an alarming rate.

Tickets for the raffle can be purchased from the Maidstone Musuem, St Faith's Street, until September 1.

The raffle will cost £2 for visitors of the exhibition and £3 for other guests.

Victoria Barlow, Maidstone Museum Director said: “We are absolutely delighted to be able to offer our visitors the fantastic chance of such an amazing prize. Thanks to the help and generosity of our partners at the Big Cat Sanctuary two people will be able to experience and encounter some of the rarest most beautiful and endangered species of cats –here on our doorstep in Kent.”

The Maidstone Museum Endangered and Extinct Exhibition is open until Sunday, September 1.

Tickets cost £4 for adults, £2 for children, a family ticket costing £10 and under 5s are free.

Activities in the galleries include different environments for visitors to add in endangered species, an endangered animal mask selfie station and a climate change and environment trail.

More details are available online.

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