Wannado City, the children's theme park at the Sawgrass Mills Mall in Sunrise, Florida, US, is to close in January.

The closure will result in 314 people losing their jobs at the 140,000sq ft theme park, which opened in July 2004.

The company said in a statement that "throughout the years, [we] went through many operational changes and company restructures, trying to achieve a business that would at least break even," referring to the fact that the firm has been in financial difficulty its inception.

Regarding annual pass holders, the company said: "We appreciate their patronage and loyalty and understand their concern. However our closing is an unforeseen event, therefore we are inviting them to use their pass as much as possible during these two months as we enter our grand finale."

The site was aimed at children aged between four and 11 years old and was designed to allow them to live out their dream careers. The interactive concept encourages role-playing and features 60 different venues with over 250 careers for children to choose from.