Two brothers have spent millions on a holiday park to introduce “more jobs” and a “higher standard” to a deprived tourist destination.

John and Bernard Saunders purchased the Eden Leisure Park for £3 million and are in the process of investing another £400,000 into a site that’s “been a little bit forgotten about”.

The pair started their new caravan business venture along Warden Road in Eastchurch on Sheppey in October 2023.

Dad-of-one Bernard explained: “The park has had 116 homes on it, but with our fantastic new owners-only development, it has now 120-odd homes.

“We’re looking to further that with another five homes, with another new development on the park.”

The site also has a five-bedroom house, where the 28-year-old lives, an office block and a utility block for residents.

It is described as “a hidden gem in the quiet village of Eastchurch, nestled in the countryside of the Isle of Sheppey”.

He continued: “We already invested £150,000 on this new development, but we’re looking to invest another £250,000.

“I've got another holiday park with 40 pitches, some beautiful lodges up in Blackpool.

“So what I've done is I've brought my expertise down to Kent, where I was born and raised. It’s just a fantastic investment moving forward.”

The brothers say they are investing so heavily into the area because they hear about other parks “going into administration”.

Bernard explained: “This park’s popped up, and we've purchased it, and we want to purchase more because we’ve got the ready funds available to do so.

“We're not greedy park operators, we haven't come in here and put our site fees up and up and up like other operators do in the industry.

“We've come in here with the view of moving forward and making sure all the residents are happy.”

Holidaymakers can use their caravans for 10 months of the year and the brothers claim their fees are some of the lowest in the area, starting from £2,700 per year.

Bernard continued: “They’re in a good place, and we want to invest in the local community, such as local businesses.

“We want to give back. It's not about us coming in here, putting our site fees up, being greedy park operators, and moving on and taking people’s money.

“We want to give back to the local community, build a relationship with Swale council, and even invest in the roads around here and fix the potholes.

“It’s brilliant for the Island. It’s brilliant for the park. We want to make this a happy place again. Because we feel as if, for the locals, it’s been a little bit forgotten about.”

The business partners grew up nearby in Rainham and spent a lot of their childhood in Sittingbourne and on Sheppey.

John, who now lives in Staplehurst, says although they’ve already introduced some new luxury caravans to the site there are many more to come.

The 31-year-old dad-of-three said: “Our overall plan is to develop the park to a high standard, expand our business across the Island, introduce more jobs onto the Island and develop the Island up to the standard it deserves to be at.

“We're going to develop it to this standard over a very long period.

“The core of the problem seems to be that the Island is not getting the attention it deserves.

“We don't intend on wrapping our arms around the full Island and bringing it up to where it needs to be, but what we are planning on doing is giving it as much of a lift as we can as possible.

“We intend to try and take that bad stigma away from holiday parks on the Island at the moment.

“The Island is an absolutely fantastic place to spend your holidays. You’ve got beaches not so far away, amusements, and of course, you’ve got the rural countryside just over the road.

“What better place to spend a holiday? You get a lovely summer here.”

The Eden Leisure Park has lodges and chalets up for sale, for more information about the park visit edenleisurepark.com