Pleasurewood Hills will thrive again, says new owner

Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft has more than 35 rides, shows and attractions

A new owner of a theme park said they were aiming to bring its "spark" back.

Pleasurewood Hills in Lowestoft, Suffolk, was sold by French company Looping Group to Premier Attractions last month.

Looping Group had owned the park, which has more than 35 rides and attractions, since 2011.

Freddy Stokes, one of the new owners at Premier Attractions, said that while it was the first time they had acquired a theme park, they planned to "make it thrive", adding: "We haven't bought the park just to go through the motions and ride it out."

He told Wayne Bavin at BBC Radio Suffolk: "We bought the park to improve it, make it better, make it thrive.

"We've got lots planned, but nothing is concrete."

Mr Stokes said he had "come to see how important" the park was to local people since buying it.

Pleasurewood Hills opened more than 40 years ago

The park first opened its gates in 1983 and was visited by the late Queen Elizabeth II and the Duke of Edinburgh shortly afterwards.

The new owner said he believed, however, it had "lost its way a little bit".

"We know there is a little bit of disconnect there now and we think we can fix it," Mr Stokes continued.

"I read a lot into social media, maybe I shouldn't do, but I read the comments and my view is that it's lost the spark that it once had that everybody speaks about.

"In terms of lost its way, it is a little bit shabby around the edges, the rides, the performance level, I just feel it is not what it should be as a bare minimum."

Mr Stokes said Premier Attractions would be investing in new rides, but warned not to expect "a £4m rollercoaster".

"We're going to offer more rides, more variety and with no increase in the cost," he added.

"It's only positives."