EASTER was in full spring at Middlebrook with plenty laid on for families.

The retail and leisure park hosted four days of free Easter fun between Thursday and Monday.

Families enjoyed Easter egg hunts and got to make Peter Rabbit-themed pop-up bunnies.

During the Mad Hatter’s tea party on Monday children could decorate their own cupcakes and meet both the Hatter and Alice. They even got to play a spot of croquet with the Queen of Hearts.

It was not just children that got all the fun, old and young had the chance to experience the 9D virtual reality pods which took people on an out of this world adventure.

Heather Crank-Ingham, marketing manager for Middlebrook, said: “Our free seasonal entertainment always goes down a treat with both children and parents.

“The 9D virtual reality pods proved extremely popular with both children and adults, with most screams coming from the parents!

“They were a first at Middlebrook. The children loved the craziness of the Mad Hatter’s tea party and all the characters and magic shows.

“We have had some wonderful feedback from parents which is lovely.”

Middlebrook saw a bump in footfall this weekend compared to last year despite the poor weather.

The bad weather meant nationally a lot of high streets suffered a drop in shoppers compared with last year.

Good Friday Middlebrook saw a 1.4 per cent increase on last year, it was up 4.5 per cent on Saturday and up 5.5 per cent on Easter Sunday when only the restaurants, cinema and bowling alley were open.

Ms Crank-Ingham said: "This Easter bank holiday weekend has been exceptionally busy at the retail park.

"Lots of families have visited, the stores have seen an increase in sales and our free family events have been very well attended.

"The weather hasn’t hampered peoples spirits, our footfall was up five per cent overall.

"We even held a quiet hour on Monday morning for families living with autism to mark National Autism day to help raise awareness which also received lots of positive feedback, which we will now be making a regular event."