A SELF-confessed "townie" from Stourport is living out a childhood dream - surrounded by animals in an idyllic farm haven.

Tracy Ballard, 40, has been running the eight-acre Menagerie Children's Farm in the tiny village of Abberley for six years, and has seen it expand from a handful of animals to a veritable Noah's Ark of creatures great and small.

School groups and families make regular trips to the popular farm, which features ducks, chickens, geese, turkey, guinea fowl, donkeys, goats, sheep, guinea pigs, rats, mice, hedgehogs, foxes, pigs, cats, dogs, lambs, deer - and an owl.

"It's impossible to say how many animals I've got here because the number changes all the time," Mrs Ballard said.

"It's a lot of work looking after them but it's a hobby and something I love doing. Ever since I stayed on a friend's farm when I was six, I wanted to live on one."

She lives on the farm with her husband Ian and three children - Jack, 12, Toby, 10 and eight-year-old Rosie.

But her settled life in a picturesque rural setting is far removed from her upbringing in busy Stourport.

After leaving school she trained in nursing and midwifery - but brought it all to a halt to spend a year travelling when she was 22.

Greece, Turkey and Israel were all on the agenda as Mrs Ballard blazed an adventurous trail across the globe with three friends.

"It was something I had to get out of my system," she said. "I met loads of people, and learnt a lot."

The farm became home 13 years ago after she met her husband, whose family had owned it for three generations. He now works in deer management, while much of the site's 250 acres is rented out due to the decline in profitability for dairy farmers.

Mrs Ballard still works as a health visitor one day a week, while caring for the animals takes up much of the rest of her time.

The menagerie opens for the first three weeks of the school summer holidays, at Christmas and at Easter.

Its opening hours have increased gradually over the past six years since Mrs Ballard realised that by charging groups to see the farm, she could afford to keep more animals and make a better attraction.

But she insists she is now happy with the menagerie and that it has expanded as far as it is going to.

When open, a host of activities are arranged for visiting schoolchildren from across the county and as far away as Halesowen, such as seeing chicks hatch, milking goats and tractor rides.

"I think it's very important for young children to come into contact with animals - it teaches them to be compassionate and kind at an early age," Mrs Ballard said.

"It's very fulfilling to see children getting hands-on experience - touching, smelling, stroking and feeding the animals."

Plans for next year include a "rabbit mountain" - a mound of earth containing tubes which will allow children to identify different varieties of rabbit.