Residents have hit out at plans for a massive US theme park next to a tiny UK village. Great Wolf Resorts, America's largest family of indoor water park resorts, has proposed to build one of its first resorts in Britain near Whitwell in Derbyshire. Plans include a huge 512-room hotel, as well as the main water park, a family entertainment centre, conference centre and more than 900 car parking spaces.

The area has a rich theme park heritage, with Alton Towers, the UK's largest, not far away in Staffordshire. Derbyshire residents will also fondly remember the wild west-themed American Adventure park near Heanor. It has now been developed into a housing estate.

Whitwell residents have formed an action group to oppose the plans for the new attraction. "This would change life in the village forever, and at no real benefit to us residents," member Jane Shelton said. "The design won't be in accordance with how the rest of the village looks, instead, they're going for their own aesthetics.

"That might work in Texas, but in a small Derbyshire village all the lights will disturb wildlife and residents alike."

Ms Shelton also suggested to our sister site DerbyshireLive that day passes would cost around $60 (or £44) if the UK park worked in a similar way to the US ones, and would only be available to residents if the resort was not at capacity.

"To us, this means we probably couldn't take our children there during summer holidays, weekends and bank holidays, which is when most parents would welcome a park like this one," she added.

"If it's similar pricing to the US, a day out could become incredibly expensive for a family, so I wouldn't say the day passes are a massive benefit.

"I also don't see the need for a conference centre at this location - we have one down the road already and in this village there is no need for two."

Public transport access to the site has also been raised.

"We don't have space for 900 cars to be travelling in and out," Ms Shelton said.

"It will cause emissions, dirt, and people won't interact with the local infrastructure or bring any benefit to the village.

"This is an urban development and nothing for a small village - it would change the way of the land altogether."

The Express has approached Great Wolf Lodge for comment.