Lapland New Forest
Encyclopedia
Lapland New Forest was a Christmas
-themed park that existed for a brief period in December 2008, near Ringwood
, Hampshire
. The park achieved a great deal of notoriety in the United Kingdom in 2008 due to the extremely poor quality of its attractions, which largely consisted of a single billboard depicting the nativity
, fairy lights dangling from trees, mistreated animals chained up, a broken ice rink, garden sheds with nothing in them (previously described as log cabins by the website) and a very poorly decorated Santa's grotto that took three hours to queue up for. The park was situated within marsh-like fields, snow was noticeably fake, snacks and refreshments were largely overpriced and most of the park's staff failed to accommodate customers correctly, resulting in a very disappointing and miserable experience for almost all visitors.
The park had been advertised as being a 'winter wonderland' that featured a huge amount of exciting family events, including 'bustling Christmas markets' and sold over 50,000 advance tickets, with ticket prices beginning at £25. Over £1.2 million had been made in total.
After being open for less than one week the park closed and its website was removed, thousands of angry visitors having attacked workers at the site – including Santa and his elves, one of which was slapped around the face. Children who had looked forward to the event were reduced to tears, especially when Santa was caught smoking
. In February 2011, Victor Mears and Henry Mears, the brothers who ran the park, were found guilty of misleading advertising, and were jailed for 13 months each in March 2011..
In October 2011 the pair had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal following revelations that one of the jurors had been texting her fiance during the trial. The fiance had been present in court and the text messages (one of which simply read "guilty") had been seen by other jurors. The Court of Appeal's view was that this made the convictions unsafe. Dorset County Council, which had brought the original prosecution, subsequently indicated that it would not be seeking a retrial as the brothers had already served prison sentences.
Christmas
Christmas or Christmas Day is an annual holiday generally celebrated on December 25 by billions of people around the world. It is a Christian feast that commemorates the birth of Jesus Christ, liturgically closing the Advent season and initiating the season of Christmastide, which lasts twelve days...
-themed park that existed for a brief period in December 2008, near Ringwood
Ringwood
Ringwood is a historic market town and civil parish in Hampshire, England, located on the River Avon, close to the New Forest and north of Bournemouth. It has a history dating back to Anglo-Saxon times, and has held a weekly market since the Middle Ages....
, Hampshire
Hampshire
Hampshire is a county on the southern coast of England in the United Kingdom. The county town of Hampshire is Winchester, a historic cathedral city that was once the capital of England. Hampshire is notable for housing the original birthplaces of the Royal Navy, British Army, and Royal Air Force...
. The park achieved a great deal of notoriety in the United Kingdom in 2008 due to the extremely poor quality of its attractions, which largely consisted of a single billboard depicting the nativity
Nativity of Jesus
The Nativity of Jesus, or simply The Nativity, refers to the accounts of the birth of Jesus in two of the Canonical gospels and in various apocryphal texts....
, fairy lights dangling from trees, mistreated animals chained up, a broken ice rink, garden sheds with nothing in them (previously described as log cabins by the website) and a very poorly decorated Santa's grotto that took three hours to queue up for. The park was situated within marsh-like fields, snow was noticeably fake, snacks and refreshments were largely overpriced and most of the park's staff failed to accommodate customers correctly, resulting in a very disappointing and miserable experience for almost all visitors.
The park had been advertised as being a 'winter wonderland' that featured a huge amount of exciting family events, including 'bustling Christmas markets' and sold over 50,000 advance tickets, with ticket prices beginning at £25. Over £1.2 million had been made in total.
After being open for less than one week the park closed and its website was removed, thousands of angry visitors having attacked workers at the site – including Santa and his elves, one of which was slapped around the face. Children who had looked forward to the event were reduced to tears, especially when Santa was caught smoking
Smoking
Smoking is a practice in which a substance, most commonly tobacco or cannabis, is burned and the smoke is tasted or inhaled. This is primarily practised as a route of administration for recreational drug use, as combustion releases the active substances in drugs such as nicotine and makes them...
. In February 2011, Victor Mears and Henry Mears, the brothers who ran the park, were found guilty of misleading advertising, and were jailed for 13 months each in March 2011..
In October 2011 the pair had their convictions quashed by the Court of Appeal following revelations that one of the jurors had been texting her fiance during the trial. The fiance had been present in court and the text messages (one of which simply read "guilty") had been seen by other jurors. The Court of Appeal's view was that this made the convictions unsafe. Dorset County Council, which had brought the original prosecution, subsequently indicated that it would not be seeking a retrial as the brothers had already served prison sentences.