Wales' largest theme park shuts down after 40 years

Wales' largest taxable parkland has announced it volition unopen down with contiguous effect aft astir 40 years.

Oakwood Theme Park successful Pembrokeshire astir closed successful 2008 but a £25m concern rescued the park, which employed up to 200 radical according to its LinkedIn profile.

However, owed to a driblet successful visitant numbers, the owners Aspro Park said "future concern is unsustainable" and it would not beryllium opening for the 2025 season.

The institution added: "All imaginable avenues person been explored to debar the closure, and we afloat recognise the interaction of the closure connected the section assemblage and the nonaccomplishment that volition beryllium felt arsenic a result."

The parkland added that "unrelenting economical challenges" from energy costs, thrust parts and nutrient and portion inflation, arsenic good arsenic changes to national insurance thresholds affected the decision.

Aspro Parks said this was the archetypal clip it had closed a parkland oregon attraction successful its "entire history".

It added: "Unfortunately, we could nary longer spot a sustainable mode guardant and volition question to amended our different parks utilizing the assets and wherever imaginable squad elsewhere."

The owners said they felt "sadness" for the nonaccomplishment of "a rite of transition for galore young visitors".

Rollercoaster enthusiast and Oakwood superfan Ryan Hackett said helium was "gutted" astatine the quality of the closure.

Mr Hackett, 64, from Milford Haven, has been connected the Megafobia thrust astatine the parkland 6,200 times and was hoping to scope 7,000 rides implicit the coming season.

"As a rollercoaster enthusiast, it's the past happening you privation to spot - a parkland closure," helium said.

"I conscionable anticipation there's a buyer. I joked connected societal media earlier - tin idiosyncratic lend maine £100m?

"My telephone has been ringing each evening from different rollercoaster enthusiasts from each implicit the UK and everyone is devastated."

Samuel Kurtz, Carmarthen West and South Pembrokeshire Member of the Senedd, said the park's closure was "deeply sad" and it had a "special spot successful the hearts of many".

The Welsh authorities said: "We basal acceptable to connection enactment to the workforce affected by this decision."

The taxable parkland made headlines crossed the UK successful 2004 erstwhile Hayley Williams, 16, died aft falling 100ft (30m) from the apical of the Hydro rollercoaster.

An inquest into her death successful 2006 heard a information barroom designed to restrain passengers arsenic the thrust plummeted down a near-vertical chute astatine 50mph had not been lowered earlier it started.

But an unlawful killing verdict was ruled retired by a coroner who said determination was nary grounds of gross negligence by anyone involved.

But 2 years aboriginal Oakwood Leisure, which ran the parkland astatine the clip of the accident, was fined £250,000 aft admitting unit had failed to guarantee passengers were safely restrained connected the high-speed ride.

Analysis - Huw Thomas, BBC Wales concern correspondent

The owners of Oakwood are not unsocial successful criticising the impending emergence successful nationalist security contributions and an summation successful the surviving wage.

While the nationalist assemblage awaits quality of imaginable mitigation against the NICs increase, the backstage assemblage has had to hole for the alteration and to set their budgets accordingly.

Faced with post-pandemic outgo increases affecting products and services, companies and their lobby groups person warned that jobs volition beryllium mislaid arsenic these latest rises travel into effect.

The UK authorities insists the summation successful nationalist security contributions is captious to amended the backing of our nationalist services.

In Pembrokeshire the interaction of Oakwood's closure volition deed the section economy, and determination volition beryllium concerns astir the economical winds which person unopen the doors connected what was erstwhile a titan of the Welsh tourism industry.