A monkey escaped from its enclosure in Chester Zoo earlier today.

Visitors to the zoo were ushered away from the enclosure until the situation was under control.

Joanna Maddocks, from Cheshire, was visiting the zoo with her 19-month-old son Edward.

"I arrived at about 11.30am and the monkey had already escaped at this point," she told the Globe.

"Everyone seemed to be gathered in the coffee house and the zoo were giving away free coffees until the monkey was caught," she said.

"I heard it was a 'code green' situation which was later upgraded to a 'code amber'. I asked the zookeeper how often this sort of thing happened and he replied 'Never!'"

The monkey was recaptured and all areas of the zoo were reopened soon after 1pm.

Chester Zoo were unavailable for comment.