Wicksteed Park's £4.5m development plan includes new slide and ice cream parlour

Wicksteed Park's original swings were suspended from a 4m-tall frame

A theme park's £4.5m redevelopment plan will see some of its original features restored, including a replica of the original slide.

The revamp of Wicksteed Park also includes the restoration of a rose garden and ice cream parlour.

Oliver Wicksteed, who runs the park, said he wants to make it to the kind of facility his great grandfather Charles Wicksteed opened in 1921.

Mr Wicksteed "We are not Alton Towers... and we are not trying to be."

He said he hopes to fund the new project at the Kettering-based park through a £2.5m grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund and £2m from the Wicksteed Park Trust.

Oliver Wicksteed would like to see some of the park's original features restored

The plans come a year after the completion of a Heritage Lottery Fund-backed £3m project that has restored the park's lake to its former glory.

Mr Wicksteed said the project is "part of a master plan" for the park, aimed at making sure it retains its historical significance.

"We want people arriving at the park to understand that they are in a place where key elements of children's play developed," he said.