Kent, UK-based theme park operator Diggerland Adventure Park is set to open its first site outside of the UK, in Virginia, US.

Work is set to begin on the $10m (£5.4m, 8m euro), 295-acre park in September and is scheduled to open in 2007.

The American park will be designed by Diggerland’s in-house team along the same lines as its existing parks in Devon, Durham and Kent, which offer rides in specially-modified construction industry machines.

A spokesperson for the company said that Virginia had been chosen because of its ease of accessibility for visitors up and down the east coast of the United States. Diggerland will also be the first Kent-based company to establish itself in Virginia following the signing of the Memorandum of Understanding between Kent and Virginia in June 2005.

The company has also announced its intention to open a further 70-acre Diggerland Park in Yorkshire by Easter 2007 and aims to have a total of six UK sites by 2010.

The Diggerland concept was created by Hugh Edeleanu, chair of HE Services – one of Europe’s largest suppliers of construction machinery hire – following the high level of interest shown in the machinery at a family open day. Details: www.diggerland.com