The Flambards theme park in Helston, Cornwall, UK has been sold to Livingstone Leisure Ltd, with the attraction reported to have been in administration.

The park – up for sale since May – has been bought by new owner Ian Cunningham, who is also responsible for co-founding Blue Reef Leisure, as well as working as an operations director at the Eden Project.

The park has been partially closed for the winter while refurbishments are made, though the new owner has stated that there are no plans for major changes to existing facilities.

The park will keep open its one2eleven play area, as well as some of its museum exhibits throughout the winter.

“We’re delighted to be able to officially announce the acquisition of Flambards. Great leisure opportunities are hard to find and so we’re very excited to have been able to acquire such a fantastic park with so much opportunity,” said Cunningham.

“Our aim is to develop the park and museums and to invest in the good work of the past few years.

“Flambards is the second attraction in what we plan will be a series of new acquisitions over the coming years. We are currently in negotiations with a number of other leisure-based businesses.”

Prior to the sale, it was thought that Flambards was facing financial difficulties, with nineteen members of staff thought to have been laid off in November and a number of people working on reduced and flexible hours.

"In simple terms they couldn't afford to trade any longer and the bank decided to look at their overall structure and finances and put them into administration,” said Timothy Smart of Stratton Creber Commercial, which was involved in the park’s sale.

Flambards was originally owned by the Kingsford-Hale family since 1976, with the family developing the site into a 27-acre attraction offering visitors access to rides and museum exhibits.

It is thought that the attraction will fully reopen by Easter of next year.

More information on Flambards is available here.