ADVENTURE island has been given a £2million upgrade.

Following the exciting launch of new ride Axis, the park has been undergoing a spring clean – with £180,000 spent on painting alone.

Sands restaurant has been decorated and improved to make it more family friendly and a new front fence installed, coinciding with and enhancing Southend Council’s own refreshing of the Pier West entrance too.

In coming weeks there will be a new themed ride area under the Green Scream called ChooVille, while Gulliver has had a full makeover and the play centre is set to be extended.

Owner Philip Miller MBE said: “We have always and continue to reinvest in our businesses.

“For instance this year alone we have spent in excess of two million pounds.

“We spent one million pounds on Axis, our single largest ride investment since Rage.

“It’s a big gamble for us as we are so weather reliant and when the sun does come out we are hampered by the shortage of parking spots which in turn clogs up the town for traders and residents alike.

“Nevertheless we never stand still and have also spent another million pounds or so on smartening up the existing rides stock and infrastructure.

“We have employed a specialist firm of ride painters who have spent the last couple of months painting rollercoaster buildings – in fact if it didn’t move we painted it.

“On top of that we have also run two rides through our workshop for complete mechanical and cosmetic overhauls.”