The Ridings set to open giant indoor park next month complete with its own sweet shop

The vast indoor adventure playground is currently in development and will cover 12,000 square feet of what is currently The Zone, on the lower mall near Morrisons.

The new area will be accompanied by a sweet shop, set to open at the same time, and a coffee shop for parents named ‘Rhubarb and Custard.’

Craig Higgins, head of marketing at The Ridings, believes the new playground will play a vital part in the relaunch of the award-winning Wakefield centre.

He said: “The Park is going to be huge for The Ridings and we want it to be a place where kids, or families, can come and spend the day and have fun as the cold weather starts to come in.”

The new playground will feature a variety of equipment including a wheelchair-inclusive roundabout, two climbing frames, various slides and interactive activities for children

Craig continued: “We want to make it as inclusive as possible, for people of all ages to enjoy.

"I think it's a very exciting scenario and we want it (the centre) to be very community-led and family orientated so the park be a big game-changer for us.”

The Park comes as part of The Ridings’ new owner, Zahid Iqbal’s, plan to renovate the centre and make it a community-led hotspot within the city.

Zahid Iqbal, owner of Z&F Properties – which owns the Ridings – said: “My grandchildren love the play areas when we go visiting and I wanted to give something spectacular to the families of Wakefield, for free, undercover and safe for them to meet up and for their children to play together.”

The new adventure play zone is brought to the centre by Kompan, who were behind the play area at Thornes Park, with construction work continuing on the lower ground mall over the next two weeks.

The Park will be opened by Wakefield Council leader, Denise Jeffery and The Ridings new, currently unnamed, bee mascot, on October 6.