Center Parcs has dropped plans to develop a new holiday village on a site in West Sussex.

It said the land it had agreed to buy on the outskirts of Crawley in 2021 was found to be not suitable following environmental and ecological surveys.

The development of Oldhouse Warren, a privately owned woodland close to Gatwick Airport, would have created 1,500 permanent jobs in the area.

However, environmentalists had opposed the building of a Center Parcs on the land, saying it would damage the habitats of rare birds.

“”Whilst it is obviously disappointing that we will not be able to bring Center Parcs to this part of West Sussex, this decision demonstrates how seriously we take our responsibility to the environment, as well as our ongoing commitment to enhancing the natural habitats in which our villages are located,” said Center Parcs CEO Colin McKinlay.

“Through our customer insights, we are confident that there is strong demand in the UK market for a sixth Center Parcs village and, with this in mind, we will continue our search for a suitable site.”