Plans for a theme park in Torre de Benagalbón, Spain, have come under fire after comparisons were made of its similarity to JRR Tolkien’s Lord of the Rings.

The 80,000sq m (861,000sq ft) park follows the concept of a recreational park. There will areas for walking and cycling, a food court, shop and an auditorium. The park will include several giant figures – around 6m (19.6ft) in height – serving as a play area for children. Built around the figures will be climbing walls, swings, slides and zip lines. There will also be houses, similar to those seen in the Shire in the Lord of the Rings and Hobbit movies.

Warner Bros – which produced the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings movies – has reportedly been looking into the project following a recent direct reference to Tolkien at its unveiling at the end of January.

During the unveiling, representatives from the park – which is to be called La Comarca (The Shire) – were accompanied by an actor dressed like the Lord of the Ring’s lead character Frodo Baggins and several other characters very similar-looking to those from Tolkien's works.

Representatives stated that the park would only be based on “the magic of fairy tales, fantasy, elves, which are universally known and do not belong to any author,” not the works of Tolkien.

Opposers to the plans however, have spoken out against the development owing to possible legal consequences of going forward with development.

“The pictures used are really similar to those widely known from The Hobbit and The Lord of The Rings sagas, and the font used for advertisements is practically identical. We could get in serious trouble,” said a representative of Izquierda Unida party speaking to local media.

The council however, rebuked the allegations, stating: “All the concepts will be original, they will not be able to be considered ‘copies’.”

If the plans go ahead, the park will be operational by the end of the year, at a cost of €1.7m (US$1.9m, £1.3m). The project has been put out for tender, with designers and planners expected to be announced in May.