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Daily Mirror
Daily Mirror
Travel
Matt Drake & Milo Boyd

London Resort theme park dealt big blow as owners call in administrators

The future of the 'UK's answer to Disneyland' looks to be in doubt as administrators have been called in, it has been reported.

The company behind The London Resort have reportedly run up debts of £100million in a project with a £2.5billion price tag.

But now the London Resort Company, which is hoping to develop the site, has appointed Antony Batty & Company to restructure its finances, the Telegraph reports.

The company was formed 12 years ago to build a world-class resort on the Swanscombe Peninsula near Dartford, which is not far from London.

At one point, the project even had the backing of Hollywood studios Paramount. The site was set to be double the size of Britain's largest theme park Alton Towers.

The park was due to be built on Swanscombe Peninsula in Kent (ITV News)

It was initially called Paramount London and was originally scheduled to open by 2018.

Now the project is reportedly close to collapsing due to repeated delays, in part as a result of environmental concerns and local opposition.

This included Natural England’s decision to designate the land as a Site of Special Scientific Interest after a number of rare species were found in the area, including a tiny 1cm jumping spider.

Administrators have been called in to oversee a Company Voluntary Arrangement which is a process in which insolvent companies can renegotiate their debts.

A spokesman for The London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) said: “LRCH have taken the logical and sensible step of launching the CVA proposal.

"We’ve spoken to many of our creditors who are very happy to support the initiative which would see their debts converted into shares.

“Many millions have been invested into the Swanscombe Peninsula over the last decade and there remains a fantastic opportunity to bring forward exciting proposals.”

LRCH has said that the project is still ongoing and that new proposals for the development will be submitted later this year.

The project has been rumbling on for years (London Resort)

Plans for the park were withdrawn last year and then re-tabled, with the new project significantly smaller than the original proposals.

Local officials support the plans due to the prospect of attracting more jobs and investment to the area.

The park would bring 27,000 jobs to the area and attract up to 15m visitors, the people behind it claimed.

The original plans would have seen a park the size of 136 Wembley Stadiums built which would've required the biggest theme park investment in Europe since Disneyland Paris in 1992.

Some of the proposed rides were inspired by Paramount films: Doctor Who; Top Gear and Thunderbirds.

Developers had hoped to install some of the fastest rides in Europe, an indoor water park, theatres and a sports arena.

The agreement with Paramount broke down in 2017 and both the BBC and ITV withdrew last year due to local opposition.

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