A NEW and exiting Christmas attraction in Colchester could be a regional first.

Colchester Council has put in a planning application to develop a Christmas attraction in its award-winning Castle Park.

More details are due to be released soon but early plans include vintage rides, side stalls and other seasonal attractions.

If plans are approved, the festival attraction will be set up on November 18 and will be operational from November 25 until January 7.

Tim Young (Lab), councillor responsible for business and culture, said it was an attempt to make Christmas exciting for the town.

Plans could include attractions like an ice slide or ice kingdom, similar to London’s Winter Wonderland experience.

He said: “We think it will be quite spectacular, we want people to come into Colchester and enjoy Christmas here.

“It will add to everything else we have got going on so people can have a real Christmas experience in the town they live in.

“We hope it will attract others as well, we are investing in making Christmas pretty special this year.

“We tried it a couple of years ago with the ice rink which didn’t go quite as we wanted but we think it will be really exciting.

“People have asked us to make Christmas special and this is our attempt to do that.”

Michelle Reynolds, chairman of Colchester/Retail Business Association, said: “Anything that brings people into the town would be welcome but it needs to complement the town offering rather than detract from it.”

Two years ago, the Winter Wonderland attraction in Castle Park was closed down after the organisers were forced to go into liquidation.

The attraction became the victim of the unseasonably warm weather leading the ice on the rink to melt and forcing the attraction to close a number of times.

More than £50,000 was refunded to ticket holders who were unable to use the ice rink.

Councillors have carried out extensive work to make sure the new attraction is weather resistant and sustainable.

Plans have also been submitted for a Halloween event in Castle Park, comprising three marquees, which will be operational from October 13 to October 31.

The family-friendly event has the working title Doomsday.

It will be themed and designed around the history of Colchester and will be made up of two separate events.

If plans go ahead, Gloomsday will be open from 10am to 4pm for a younger audience, and Doomsday will operate from 5pm until 11pm for those over 15.

The plans for both attractions are likely to be discussed at a planning meeting at the Town Hall on Thursday.