Camelot theme park bosses have said the decision to close the park came after a “particularly challenging” 2012 season.
As reported yesterday, news of the park’s owners – Knights Leisure – taking the decision not to reopen in 2013 was passed onto an adjacent hotel.
Managing director Roy Page, told the Lancashire Evening Press: “It is with reluctance we have had to take this very difficult decision.
“Following a number of years of declining visitor numbers, the 2012 season proved particularly challenging.
“Whilst we have become used to inclement summer weather in the UK during the past few years, a combination of the wettest summer for 100 years, the Queen’s Jubilee celebrations followed by the spectacular television coverage of the Olympic Games during our busiest months of the summer and the school holidays had a major impact on visitors to Camelot.
“I would like to thank all the staff who have helped to make Camelot Theme Park one of the region’s most entertaining visitor attractions and our many loyal visitors for their continued support over the past 29 wonderful years.”
Camelot opened in 1983 and employed around 200 people during the peak summer months.
The site, located in Chorley in Lancashire, is expected to be eventually cleared for the development of housing.
The fate of Camelot’s rides is not yet clear, but they are likely to be sold off and relocated.