A POPULAR Hampshire theme park has been voted better than Euro Disney.

Paultons Park been named among the best in Europe – beating the famous Walt Disney Studios Park in Paris.

Paultons, based off the M27 junction Two at Ower, has been hailed by the website TripAdvisor following reviews and comments from thousands of visitors.

It has been ranked best in the UK, sixth in Europe and 22nd in the world in the website’s Travellers’ Choice awards.

The theme park has over 60 rides and attractions including thrilling roller coasters, log flumes, a 4D Cinema, an animal park, and much-loved Peppa Pig World.

This year Paultons launched its new £9m Lost Kingdom - a dinosaur themed area set within four acres of Jurassic landscape with exhilarating giant lizard-themed rides including two family rollercoasters: Flight of the Pterosaur and Velociraptor.

The TripAdvisor accolade is a first for Paultons, but it has previously been voted as the number one UK theme park for families by readers of Netmums, Which? magazine, and Mumsnet.

Park managing director Richard Mancey said: “We are thrilled to have been named the UK’s number one amusement park in the TripAdvisor Travellers’ Choice awards. This is a huge achievement and testament that the quality of Paultons Park as a family attraction is translating into so many positive reviews.

He added: “We aim to offer our families a memorable experience and to be recognised as sixth in Europe and twenty-second in the world is fantastic. The fact the award has been won through the positive responses of the public makes this an even bigger achievement which the team are very proud of.”

A spokesperson from TripAdvisor said: “For a park to win like that based on customer feedback, it is the best barometer. It absolutely deserved to win.”

The Travellers’ Choice awards honours the best travel spots around the world, based on millions of reviews and opinions from TripAdvisor travellers. Award winners were decided using an algorithm that took into account the quantity and quality of reviews for amusement parks worldwide, gathered over a year.

Hampshire is the most visited county in the South East and approximately £2.50 billion is estimated to be spent by day and staying visitors in Hampshire each year. Paultons Park itself receives one million visitors a year.