UK government to pay £1.3bn to help fund Universal Studios theme park in Bedfordshire

Key points

• British taxpayers will provide £1.3bn in funding to help the Hollywood studio giant Universal build its first theme park in Europe.
• Comcast, the US media company that owns NBC Universal and Sky, had been considering a number of countries in which to build its first European theme park.
• However, a deal to build the attraction on the site of the former Kempston Hardwick brickworks near Bedford was agreed after a significant offer of government financial support.
• A package initially revealed last June included almost £500m of public investment in rail and road infrastructure, including a station development at Wixams, while talks over the scale of the overall government assistance continued.
• View image in fullscreen Rachel Reeves visits the Bedford site.