Six-week delay for Dickens World

Dickens World will now open at the end of May

The opening of a £62m theme park that celebrates the life and writings of Charles Dickens has been delayed.

The owners of Dickens World announced on Friday that the four-acre attraction in Chatham, Kent, would not now be opening its doors until 25 May.

They said the delay had been caused by a problem with the standard of some of the materials supplied for their interactive shows.

Dickens World was supposed to open to the public on 20 April.

It is hoped the theme park will attract 300,000 visitors a year once it is up and running.

Bygone age

A spokeswoman said: "Dickens World is a complex visitor attraction.

"Some of the elements for the interactive displays are coming from overseas and at a project meeting this morning it was decided that they weren't sufficiently finished to our standards."

Dickens World has been built on derelict dockland close to where the writer lived as a child.

Believed to be one of the biggest covered attractions in the world, it will enable visitors to experience the sights, sounds and smells of a bygone age, according to the owners.

Medway Council hopes the local economy will receive a boost with an estimated 200 jobs created at the site alone.