You can leave your top on: Southend funfair bans bare-chested men
- Adventure Island wants male visitors to keep their tops on this summer
- The Wear Your Shirt Rule is enforced in most U.S. theme parks
- Southend is one of the warmest and driest part of the UK
- Experts predict record-breaking UK temperatures this summer
Baring your beer belly is off the menu in Southend this summer, as visitors to the Adventure Island funfair are being told to please keep their clothes on.
The park's new 'Wear Your Shirt' rule will be enforced no matter how high the temperatures rise, and has been inspired by similiar dress codes used in U.S. theme parks which urge men to stay covered up in a bid to maintain family-friendly standards.
A spokesman for the park said: 'We don’t have a strict dress code as such, but would like our male customers to show some decorum.
Not welcome: Funfair Adventure Island in Southend is banning bare chests this summer
'In recent years, we’ve seen increasing numbers of lads and men whipping their tops off, eager to make the most of the sun – which is understandable, of course, as Southend is the warmest and driest part of the UK.
'That’s absolutely fine in the right environment, but we try very hard to be a family-focused business and not everybody is a fan of bare chests.
'We simply want to make sure that Adventure Island maintains its status as the best place to bring the whole family for a fun, safe, reasonably-priced great day out.'
Have some decorum: Marc Miller, managing director, has instructed signs to be posted around the park
Signs are now being put up around the park and security staff will politely challenge individuals who have removed their tops and ask them to put them back on again. Those who refuse will be asked to leave.
Mr Miller added: 'Of course, we don’t want people to think we’re introducing a nightclub-style policy of no jeans or trainers. There definitely won’t be Adventure Island fashion police criticising people for wearing double denim combinations, spots with stripes or inappropriate shades of purple.
'We’ll simply point out that if you want to pose semi-naked, then Southend has miles of glorious beaches on which to do that.'
Family-friendly: The theme park insists it wants to maintain standards, not play the role of the fashion police
Most watched News videos
- 15 years since daughter disappeared, mother questions investigation
- New Colonel-in-Chief Prince William dons army combats
- Flash floods 'rip apart streets' in Herefordshire's Ross-on-Wye
- Jilly Cooper reflects on 'extraordinary' Investiture Ceremony
- British tourists fight with each other in a Majorcan tourist resort
- King Charles unveils first official portrait since Coronation
- Youths wield knife in daylight robbery attempt in Woolwich, London
- Moment brawl breaks out at British-run 'Fighting Cocks' pub in Spain
- Boy mistakenly electrocutes his genitals in social media stunt
- Emergency services on scene after gunmen ambush prison van in France
- Moment Prince Harry and Meghan Markle arrive at Lagos House Marina
- Harry and Meghan spotted holding hands at polo match in Nigeria
