Theme park 'didn't expect' to win annual award

An attraction where 27 people were recently rescued from a rollercoaster said it had not expected to win theme park of the year.

Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft, Suffolk, has won had won the title for attractions with under one million visitors in the UK Theme Park Awards.

Last month, the emergency services were called to the park when the Wipeout ride broke down, leaving riders stuck on board for up to three hours.

Freddy Stokes, one of the owners of the theme park, said it had not been an award "we were expecting to win" as there was a lot more work to do on improving the park.

"I can't say it's not a big surprise or a shock," he told BBC Radio Suffolk's Wayne Bavin breakfast show.

"It's not an award we were expecting to win, but it's obviously great for that work to be acknowledged within the industry and the public votes mean something.

"It means what we're doing is working."

The UK Theme Park Awards involved a public vote that launched on 20 July and ended on 28 August, prior to the Wipeout ride breaking down.

Last year the theme park, which opened in 1983 with a big regional television advertising campaign featuring Woody the bear, was sold by French company Looping Group to Premier Attractions.

Stokes said at the time he wanted to make the park "thrive" as he felt it had "lost its way a little bit".

"It's not common knowledge yet, but we've already bought three rides for next year," he continued.

"We're very close to a fourth, so we're looking at opening a full new area.

"We are just getting started — it's not a one-season wonder."

Stokes said the park was still investigating what caused the Wipeout ride to break down last month and acknowledged it had not been the end to the summer "that we'd hope for".

However, he added that the situation had been handled well and he thanked the fire service for its assistance.

Asked when the ride might reopen, Stokes said the park was aiming to get it running again before the end of October.

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