'Our final Pontins performance was very emotional'

A band that has performed at a Suffolk holiday park for 35 years said the final event there was "very emotional".

Sounds Imperial, a 60s and 70s covers band, has played to holidaymakers at the Pontins' Pakefield Holiday Village, in Suffolk, for the last time.

The resort is closing for good this month and will be transformed into accommodation for hundreds of employees working further down the coast on the multi-billion-pound Sizewell C nuclear plant project.

"Pakefield has always been a big part of our lives," drummer Bryce Woodrow, from Norwich, said while speaking on the Wayne Bavin Breakfast Show on BBC Suffolk.

"We started there about 1990 and have been there pretty much ever since. There've not been too many years when we haven't performed there more than once.

"[The final gig] was very emotional because we've become friends with the staff and the guests and we said goodbye to people who we don't know we will ever see again."

The four-piece's final show took place during the park's last weekend, on 29 December, and followed 35 years of annual concerts at the site, to the south of Lowestoft.

During that time Sounds Imperial has been both the main attraction and the support act for well-known musical acts such the Bay City Rollers and Gerry and the Pacemakers.

"We've had the privilege of working with a lot of the bands that have inspired us and that has been awe-inspiring," added Mr Woodrow.

"We've met lots of lovely people over the years. It was a very popular place."

Sizewell C, partly funded by the French energy company EDF, is due to be built next to the existing Sizewell B nuclear power station, just south of RSPB Minsmere.

The closure of Pontins comes after those behind the electricity-generating plant revealed last year they had reached an agreement with the park to take it over.

As many as 500 workers are expected to move on to the holiday village site, which will undergo a refurbishment predicted to be completed within six months.

New self-catering units and show rooms will be built, while some existing facilities – including the cafe, restaurant, pool and gym – will be retained.

"We'll be kicking off the refurbishment straight away and making some significant enhancements to the accommodation offering," an EDF spokesperson said.

"The Sizewell C project is moving at pace and we have a carefully planned accommodation strategy to ensure we meet demands and deliver local benefits."

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