Adventure Island recently won an award at the national UK Theme Park Awards for 2021.

The Essex theme park in Southend received recognition for Best Customer Service.

The awards, now in their second year, are organised by ThemeParks-UK.com, an independent guide to UK theme parks.

A combination of scores from judges and 176,370 votes by the British public decided the outcomes.

There were 21 categories up for grabs, including Best New Attraction, Best Classic Coaster, and Theme Park of the Year.

The biggest winners in the awards include Alton Towers in Staffordshire (15 awards), Paultons Park in Hampshire (9), Blackpool Pleasure Beach in Lancashire (7), Thorpe Park in Surrey (5) and LEGOLAND Windsor in Berkshire (5).

Other theme parks with multiple awards include Chessington World of Adventures in Surrey (4) and Drayton Manor in Staffordshire (3).

Parks were vying for either gold, silver or bronze in each category, and Adventure Island placed third in the Best Customer Service category, meaning they scooped a prize.

Paultons Parks came second in that category, whilst Alton Towers came out on top.

How to buy tickets for Adventure Island

Adventure Island has been open since 1976 and has several rollercoasters, including Barnstormer and Rage.

It also has several rollercoasters suitable for children, such as the Mighty Mini Mega, the American Whip and the Kiddi-Koasta.

You can get tickets to attend Adventure Island at their website here.

For the remainder of 2021 the park will be open at weekends up until November 13-14, and the full October half-term.

It will then reopen for weekends from December 4, plus the whole weekday up until Boxing Day.