THERE should have been huskies, real snow and an ice rink, but yesterday the families turning up to the opening of a Lapland theme park were met by empty marquees, a muddy field and trading standards officers.

Lapland West Midlands, based in a field close to one of Britain’s busiest motorway junctions, had been abandoned not just by Santa and his elves but by its organisers, too.

It was the second such debacle in the space of a few days, following the collapse of a similar venture in the New Forest in Hampshire.

Last night trading standards officers said they had discovered that the organisers of both events, who had earlier denied any connection, have addresses in the same road in Christchurch, Dorset.

At Lapland New Forest, on the Dorset-Hampshire border, parents had become angry and even violent after complaining they had been tricked into taking their children to a semi-derelict site that looked nothing like Santa’s Arctic home. Parents had reportedly attacked two elves and a Father Christmas.

Forewarned by those events, council officers in Staffordshire acted fast when they heard that a similar £25-a-head event was being planned in a field between Wolverhampton and Essington.

They ordered its closure before it could even open, but yesterday some customers still showed up hoping for the fairground rides, jugglers andChristmas characters that had been advertised.

“I’m gutted,” said Connor Whitehouse, 8, who arrived at the site with his grandparents, David and Evelyn Whitehouse, who live nearby.

“We were looking forward to having fun and meeting Father Christmas. I thought there would be lots of things to do and rides to play on.”

David Whitehouse, 61, said: “You can’t even walk up to the tents because it’s so disgusting. The whole site is a right mess.”

Steven Jennings, who said he was an organiser, was taking no chances. He had departed from the site early yesterday morning, blaming bad publicity and recalcitrant council officials. Before leaving he told reporters: “This event has been cancelled because we could not obtain a licence for the site.”

He claimed it was a totally different event to Lapland New Forest. But Jimmy James, one of his business partners, is the brother of Matthew James, who owns a holiday park close to the New Forest venture.

Jimmy James said: “My brother saw Lapland New Forest and told me about the event going on in that area. I decided to do the same thing up here. Ihave nothing to do with those people whatsoever.”

It was obvious that whoever was behind the venture would have been hard pushed to pass off the huddle of 10 small marquees sitting forlornly at the end of a field as a winter wonderland.

Even finding it was difficult. The long walk from the road – little more than a country lane – was interrupted only by the sight of fly-tipped rubbish, tractor tracks and puddles.

“Lapland” was flanked by a shooting range, a grey icy lake and mobile phone masts. Even the birdsong from the nearbywoods was drowned out by noise from the nearby M6.

Carol Dean, from Staffordshire county council, said: “We’ve had officers look around and there is very little there. It would have taken an awful lot of work to get to the level advertised on the website. We are advising people to contact Consumer Direct.”

Edward Rowe, whose father owns the site, said he had been paid less than £250 upfront and would now spend more than a week restoring the field.

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