DOZENS of people have welcomed “wonderful” and “vibrant” plans for a £100m historical leisure park.

The park, which will be set in the shadow of Auckland Castle, in Bishop Auckland, hopes to attract up to 800,000 visitors a year and provide a major boost for the local economy.

Organisers behind the Eleven Arches plans held a public consultation in the Four Clocks Centre, in Newgate Street, this week (Thursday).

Multi-millionaire City financier Jonathan Ruffer has brought the scheme, which is based on Puy du Foy – the second most visited tourist attraction in France - to the region and the aim is to open to the public in spring 2016.

At the public consultation, residents of Bishop Auckland spoke about their enthusiasm for the project and how it would be based on local history and how they thought it would drive up standards for the town.

Hill Benson (CORRECT), of Bishop Auckland, said: “It is a wonderful idea and what I like is that it will be a live and vibrant night show. It will be different and as it will not be on all the time it will not dominate the area.”

Anne-Isabelle Daulon, chief executive of the Eleven Arches Trust, said: “We have gone through the last six months getting surveys done in preparation for the planning application.

“We are at a point now where we are satisfied and we can say more about our plans. None of this is finalised, which is why we wanted to hear from people.

“Everything has come together and we are satisfied this is a viable project. Obviously we are showing it to people to get their ideas.”

She added: “People seem very happy and we have already had a lot of people wanting to get involved.”

The first phase will see a £20m not-for-profit visually stunning night show recreate about 2,000 years of North-East history, using a cast of 600 volunteers.

The shows, which will run for 80 minutes, will feature large-scale re-enactments, music and pyrotechnics.

Damien Boissinot, executive show producer, said: “This will be based on an English story. It will be of the highest performance and technology from the start.

“The first season will need about 600 volunteers and we are recruiting now. Training will probably start next September.”