WE'RE willing to bet the subject of this 'festive' theme park still comes up over Christmas dinner for some Dorset residents - even though it happened more than a decade ago.

Billed as a “winter wonderland,” Lapland New Forest at Matchams near Bournemouth proved everything but - with some families in south and west Dorset left hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

Hopefully those who visited the infamous attraction in 2008 can look back and see a funny side - but it was no laughing matter at the time.

Dorset Echo:

Picture thanks to Bournemouth Helicopters

Described on the website as offering snow-covered log cabins, a nativity scene, husky dogs, polar bears and other animals, as well as a bustling Christmas market, families found the reality somewhat different.

Complaints of a muddy field, broken ice rink and fairy lights hanging from trees, sparked hundreds of complaints to trading standards officials and less than a week later, the attraction closed.

“Elves” were involved in scuffles with furious parents in a “gingerbread house” and Father Christmas was punched while in his grotto, according to angry customers.

One parent even complained her children stumbled across Santa during a smoking break at the back of his grotto.

Among the unhappy customers were Tamina and Adrian Powell from Weymouth who took their two children, then aged seven and 12.

Mrs Powell said at the time: “We paid £100 and I’m disgusted. It was an absolute rip-off.

“It was badly organised, the attractions were tacky and it was really expensive.

“Although the organisers couldn’t help the weather, the car park was a total mud-bath.

“But after paying all that money to get in we still had to pay for other attractions.

“Our kids didn’t bother queuing to see Santa because it was a two-hour wait. The presents they were giving out were toys from out-of-date films.”

Visitors were charged £30 a ticket, with up to 10,000 advance bookings online.

People had travelled from Wales, Midlands and further afield to visit the site.

An employment agency also pulled staff out amid fears for their safety.

After just six days after it opened, the attraction closed amid chaotic scenes when customers and the media clashed with staff.

As reported at the time, a radio presenter and his sidekick - dressed an elf - tried to get in with tickets but became involved in a scuffle with security guards.

Dorset Trading Standards prosecuted brothers Victor and Henry Mears under consumer protection laws.

Dorset Echo:

The trial took place in February 2011.

During the sentencing, Judge Mark Horton said the park “looked like an averagely managed summer car boot sale.”

Both denied eight charges of misleading advertising but they were found guilty on all counts by the jury.

However, their convictions were quashed on appeal.

Months after the sentence, a trio of judges at the Court of Appeal heard arguments that the trial jury at Bristol Crown Court should have been discharged after a juror had been exchanging text messages with her fiancé. The appeal judges said they had “reached the conclusion that the convictions are unsafe”.

The juror was discharged during the trial, but Judge Mark Horton rejected an application for the entire jury to be disbanded.

At the time, the former Dorset County Council said it would not be in the public interest to request a re-trial, particularly as the events took place almost three years previously and that both men had served prison sentences.