Weekly round

Jersey Zoo's bats were on the move, an island vicar walked 500 miles in a 28 day pilgrimage and May temperature records were broken in both Guernsey and Jersey.

Here is our selection of stories from the Channel Islands that you may have missed from the past week.

Construction on first small animal hospital begins

Guernsey's oldest veterinary practice announced work was under way to create the island's first small animal hospital for pets and horses.

Isabelle Vets said construction work had started at an industrial unit at Garenne Park, St Sampson.

Once complete the practice said it would apply to the Veterinary Surgeons for RCVS Small Animal Veterinary Hospital accreditation.

Vicar walks 500 miles in 28-day pilgrimage

A vicar from Alderney swapped parish life for one of the world's toughest pilgrim routes, walking about 500 miles (800km) across Spain in just under a month.

Mother Samantha Martell took on the route which stretches from Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port in France to Santiago de Compostela in Spain.

"I've always wanted to do it," said Martell who completed it in 28 days.

Crowds come together to celebrate Africa Week

Crowds gathered in the Royal Square in Jersey to mark Africa Week in the island.

The charity Friends of Africa hosted events through the week to share the continent's culture with the wider community.

As part of the campaign, Friends of Africa helped to set up food stalls, fashion displays and music performances for the public in St Helier.

Temperature record broken for third day in a row

The Channel Islands broke its temperature record for the hottest May day for the third day in a row.

Temperatures climbed to 34.2C (93.56F) in Jersey and Guernsey 31.5C (88.7F).

Dave Rigby, senior forecaster at Jersey Met, said the heatwave was the earliest the islands had ever had and it was "very unusual" to get three days in a row where temperatures continued to rise.

Later on, Jersey Met said the island had its first five-day spell of temperatures of at least 30C (86F) since records began in 1894.

Zoo relocates bats to 'fantastic' new homes

Jersey Zoo announced it had found homes for its Livingstone's fruit bats.

In October last year the owner of the zoo, Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust, said it was looking for new homes for its colony of bats after weighing up the benefits of repairing its bat tunnel.

The trust said the new homes for the bats included existing holders BioTropica in France and Pairi Daiza in Belgium, as well as new holders across Europe.

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Weekly round-up: Stories you may have missed