Boost of £1.5m for Rother Valley kids' park will see building work start sooner

The cash was part of a £7 million tourism boost announced by regional mayor Dan Jarvis, which also saw £5 million awarded to the Yorkshire Wildlife Park and £400,000 for aerospace attraction Vulcan in the Sky.

Gulliver’s began work on its £37 million children’s theme park next to Rother Valley Country Park earlier this year.

It will be the family firm’s fourth attraction and will feature water play, climbing zone, an ecology centre, glamping, woodland lodges and hotels. 

Managing director Julie Dalton said: “This funding will allow us to bring forward a number of elements of the resort that would have not been built until later phases, creating a more exciting resort for our guests to experience and more jobs for local residents.”

Mr Jarvis said the extra Government cash for the projects would help create jobs and increase visitor numbers.

He added: “Not only do cultural attractions enrich our quality of life, they act as a driver for economic growth. 

“With a growing number of major visitor attractions we must now do more to promote them.”

Sir Nigel Knowles, chair of SCR’s local enterprise partnership, said: “Funding these transformative schemes is a great example of how the public and private sector work together in the region to get things done.

“Our ability to work collaboratively, in a straightforward and practical way, is one of the real drivers for growing investor confidence in our region.”