Plans for £25 million wave surf park in landlocked Birmingham

Plans are being lodged to build a £25 million wave park with a surfing school miles from the nearest coastline.

The proposals would see a 5.4-acre artificial surf lagoon along with an outdoor heated pool and other facilities at Coleshill in Warwickshire.

Its planned location is only about a dozen miles from the geographic centre of England - Fenny Drayton in Leicestershire - with developers describing it as the "most landlocked" park of its type.

Emerge Surf, which has submitted the application to North Warwickshire Borough Council, said the site could create 100 new jobs and attract up to 250,000 visitors a year.

Steve Price, founder and CEO of Emerge Surf, said:

The park, which will be known as Emerge Surf Birmingham, will also feature a perimeter track for Onewheel electric skateboards, as well as other amenities under the roof of a main "hub" building.

Mr Price said the plans also have the backing of national governing body Surfing England and several top professional UK surfers.

Building work at the 15-acre site could start as soon as later this year, subject to planning permission being granted, with doors opening in spring 2021.

Ben Powis, Surfing England operations director, said:

A similar lagoon exists in Snowdonia while another is under construction in Bristol.

There are also separate plans for wave-generating lagoons in Edinburgh, where planning permission at a former quarry site was secured in June, and Bournemouth.