Brothers face jail for park scam

Two brothers could be jailed after they were convicted yesterday of misleading thousands of customers into visiting what they claimed was a Lapland-style theme park.

Victor Mears, 67, and brother Henry, 60, offered visitors a winter wonderland with snow-covered log cabins, a nativity scene, husky dogs, polar bears and other animals, as well as a bustling Christmas market. But instead they experienced fairy lights hung from trees and a broken ice rink.

Within days of the Lapland New Forest attraction opening in November 2008, hundreds of disgruntled visitors complained to trading standards officials that they had been ripped off.

Less than a week later, the attraction closed, with the brothers blaming the media and sabotage by "New Forest villains" for the decision.

The brothers denied eight charges of misleading advertising but they were found guilty on all counts at Bristol Crown Court.