Bosses at Alton Towers have reported a massive revenue rise as it continues to recover from the impact of terror attacks - and a 2015 rollercoaster crash - on visitor numbers.
Merlin Entertainments, which owns the theme park, said revenues rocketed 19.4 per cent to £685 million in the first half of 2017, compared to the same period last year.
Visitor numbers also grew 6.2 per cent to 29.7 million - helped by a strong Easter - and pre-tax profits edged up 0.7 per cent to £50 million.
Speaking earlier this year, Merlin chiefs said visitor numbers had been affected by recent terrorist attacks in the UK.
And the company has been rebuilding since the Smiler rollercoaster crash in June 2015, in which a number of riders were seriously injured.
Merlin was subsequently fined £5 million after the accident when the Health and Safety Executive brought a prosecution against the firm, which owns visitor attractions across the world.
The company said that new theme parks such as Legoland Japan had helped it raise sales across its portfolio, while new attractions such as Ninjago World and Ocean Invaders helped it grow its existing estate.
Meanwhile, Merlin is continuing to invest in Alton Towers. Last year it launched the Galactica ride and this year it opened the world’s first CBeebies Land Hotel.
It has 76 rooms, each themed around popular shows like Postman Pat, Something Special, Octonauts, Swashbuckle and In The Night Garden.
And work has started on a new as-yet-unnamed rollercoaster, given the code name Secret Weapon 8, or SW8, which is expected to open next year.
It will be a wooden rollercoaster and will be built on the former flume site.
Chief executive Nick Varney said: "We continue to be excited by the long term underlying growth prospects in our market and have the strategy in place to exploit these.
"We remain on track to meet our 2020 milestone targets, supported not only by the attractions and accommodation opened to date, but also by the progress we have made on the pipeline, in particular the ongoing development of new brands which will underpin the longer term roll-out."
