Martin Barratt has left his position as CEO of the British Association of Leisure Parks, Piers and Attractions (BALPPA) after less than a year in the post.

In a short statement, BALPPA said that Barratt had left "in order to pursue personal interests".

BALPPA's chair, Adrian Mahon, said: "We would like to thank Martin for his contribution to BALPPA and wish him well. We will begin the process of finding his successor immediately"

Barratt joined BALPPA in May 2010 when he succeeded the retiring Colin Dawson.

His previous roles prior to BALPPA included more than 20 years of operations and development experience in the attractions sector, including management roles with the Tussauds Group at Chessington World of Adventures and five years as operations director at Alton Towers.