A FATHER who was frustrated by a lack of facilities for his daughters has opened a leisure complex for families in the same predicament.

Darren Peckitt and his wife, Andrea, 38, built Planet Leisure, on Aycliffe Business Park, Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, after being inspired by their ten-year-old twins, Niamh and Annabel.

Incredibly, the 41-year-old engineer managed to hold down a fulltime job at Cummins engineering, in his home town of Darlington, during the 20-month, £1.5m project.

“It’s been a struggle, but it has been worth it,” he said. “I haven’t had a day off for about four months and I’m having to do 18-hour days, but we’re almost there and ready to hand over to the management team and start taking things a little bit easier.”

The 32,000sq ft complex, in Maple Way, features a 4,000sq ft synthetic ice rink, a 12-lane bowling alley, obstacle course, laser arena and licensed restaurants among the attractions.

Mr Peckitt said because the leisure complex was built on a business park, it has lower overheads than centres built on retail parks and he is keen to pass on those savings to his customers.

It is the second time the couple have set up a business to cater for their family’s needs – they also run the nearby Ruff n Tumble soft play centre.

However, Mr Peckitt said despite being the envy of their school friends with access to facilities most children could only dream of, his daughters possess a more practical attitude.

Mr Peckitt said: “I’m very grounded, so they have to be and they have been helping out where they can, and will probably help out even more in years to come.

“And it’s not as if we have been able to just open this big facility overnight.

"There have been a lot of times when I have been away from the family and there have been a lot of sacrifices and I’m looking forward to things settling down.”

Planet Leisure is open from 10am to midnight Monday to Thursday, 10am to 1am Friday and Saturday, and 10am to 11.30pm on Sundays.