We’re keeping the rides fit and ready, for whenever...

Leicestershire park is keeping busy until they can re-open IN THEME PARK THAT CANNOT HAVE VISITORS

THE spring would normally see thousands of people descending on one of the county’s top family theme parks and visitor attractions.

But at the moment there is an eerie atmosphere at Melton’s Twinlakes Park.

The excited calls of children and families you would normally hear enjoying its rides, zoo, falconry centre, miniature railway and American Dream model village, are notable by their absence.

Many members of staff have been furloughed and many more seasonal workers have not been taken on.

Work for a skeleton staff of animal carers and maintenance engineers is continuing, with directors such as Phil Bendall also mucking in to help.

“One of the first things I’d like to say is to offer our condolences to anybody who is suffering with the virus, and anybody who’s lost any members of the family,” Phil said.

“Our thoughts are very much with you.

“Obviously, we started lockdown as soon as the government said we had to shut. We shut immediately and we furloughed a lot of the staff.

“We have a very small number of staff we are employing and we are adhering strictly to the guidelines and social distancing.

“We have quite a lot of animals that require looking after, so we have staff in every day to look after them.

“We also have a small amount of construction that’s still going on.

“So we have a very small number of people here now compared to what we have usually – so there’s an awful lot of people who should have been getting their income from us who don’t, and we have absolutely no guests whatsoever.”

The rides are, of course, shut. However, maintenance work continues as the park waits in hope for the virus outbreak to recede and the lockdown to be eased.

Phil said: “Once a week we’re firing up the rides in case a bird has nested somewhere, or a branch has fallen across or something has broken, so there is a small amount of maintenance we’re doing with the rides.

“We can’t just fire the rides up in three or four days, there is weeks of work involved.

“We have like an MoT certificate on the rides and when that MoT is up then we have to get them repaired, or get them checked through, and any essential repairs done, so there’s quite a bit of work to do.

“Although, compared with what we normally do, not very much, but we have engineers coming on site and keeping the rides fit and healthy and ready to go.”

Like many visitor attractions, the theme park is struggling financially.

“We have absolutely no income,” said Phil.

“There is nothing we can do at the moment, so looking after the animals is causing us a great deal of expense.

“At the moment, we are relying very much on the banks to support us, which they are doing, but how long it knows.

“So, we will be looking at ways to try to help get some sort of revenue to help, at the very least, look after the animals.

“We are doing a digital gift card which you can purchase online and that money will go towards helping to look after the animals, and you’ll be able to use that when you come in over the next two years.

“Just to give you an idea of what we’re having to do, as directors I’m doing maintenance – cleaning gutters out, repairing roofs, essential stuff.

“My brother, he’s another director, he’s having to mow the grass all day long.”

Phil hopes there will soon be some will continue, goodness light at the end of the tunnel. He said: “That really is the situation that we find ourselves in.

“We’re doing as much as we possibly can to keep the place and get it ready for when we are reopening, so we have a viable business that, when we do reopen, we can reemploy everyone.

“Obviously, at some stage, the restrictions will be lifted and this dreadful thing will end and then we’ll be reopen and be back up and running.

“But, in the meantime, we have to stay financially viable. We don’t have a great big pot of money that we can just dip into to keep the place running.

“So it time.”

We’re doing as much as we possibly can to keep the place and get it ready for when we are reopening

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