THEME park Gulliver's is creating 370 jobs as part of a multi-million-pound facelift across the group.

The family owned firm, which has its headquarters in Warrington, is investing £4m in new attractions at its Gulliver's theme parks in the north west, Matlock Bath and Milton Keynes.

Around 150 jobs are being created for the summer season, 30 of which will be permanent, in Warrington, where a new water play attraction, Splashzone, is being built - it will be open all year round.

It is also opening an indoor play centre, Gully Town.

Around 120 new employees will join the Milton Keynes site, which will unveil its new Dinosaur and Farm Park at Easter.

A further 100 jobs are being created in Matlock Bath, where a dinosaur attraction, Lost Kingdom, will open this year.

Managing director Julie Dalton, daughter of founder Ray Phillips, said: "These are long-standing investments in the company, and we believe that because we have offered good value for money for so many years, we are well placed to continued to do well during the recession.

"The leisure sector is still a strong industry, despite the economic downturn, and as we have built the Gulliver's brand on great value and excellent service, we are confident we can succeed in these challenging times."

Last month, Camelot Theme Park in Charnock Richard, near Chorley, was placed in receivership with the loss of 29 jobs across the park and its Park Hall Hotel.

The theme park, which was operated by Prime Resorts and employed 21 people, was scheduled to reopen on April 4 but in recent years has struggled to compete with larger attractions such as Blackpool Pleasure Beach and Alton Towers.

The 140-bedroom hotel, which employs 80 people, has continued to trade as normal, while the receivers, Grant Thornton, attempts to find a buyer. Grant Thornton's Les Ross said: "Visitor numbers had been in decline at the park, which only operated for 20 weeks out of the year.

"The hotel had an extremely busy Christmas and New Year and also has very healthy bookings for functions and short leisure breaks.

"However, it has suffered a significant reduction in corporate bookings due to the economic downturn."