Visitors are being stopped and searched as thy arrive at Blackpool Pleasure Beach… for the humble pack lunch. The park has decided to only allow visitors to eat food and drink brought inside the park.
Families will have already paid at least £80 just to get into the popular tourist attraction, packed lunches are one way to keep the cost down. But visitors are reportedly being told to consume packed lunches outside the park and being turned away.
Named ‘the sandwich police’, the gate staff search bags on entry and if they find any snacks they are confiscated for the duration of the visit, or visitors are told they must be eaten outside the park.
The policy is completely opposite to other top UK attractions including Alton Towers, Legoland Windsor and London Zoo all of which welcome visitors with their packed lunches.
Bosses are the park have blamed limited space, and said that is why the ‘picnic area’ has been created adjacent to the park.
The pleasure beach, which claims to be Britain’s most popular tourist attraction with 6million visitors a year, said the policy has been in place for years. However many tourists are likely to be deterred by this strict no food rule – almost forcing visitors to buy food within the park, the family day out turns into a very expensive trip.
A spokeswoman for Merlin theme parks – which operates Alton Towers, Thorpe Park, Chessington and Legoland Windsor – said: ‘While more and more people choose to eat in the park restaurants, we have always offered facilities for people to bring and eat their own picnics, and continue to do so.’
