A MAN who sparked the evacuation and closure of a theme park by claiming he had planted a nail bomb there has been jailed.

Gowthaman Jeyabalasingam, 23, of Icknield Drive in Gants Hill, was told he must serve two years in prison after making the hoax 999 call in which he alleged there would be an attack on Blackpool's Pleasure Beach park.

Jeyabalasingam made the call at 7am during an all-night party last month on Friday, July 18.

His "warning" parked panic at the tourist attraction, forcing it to partially close for several hours before it was realised to be a hoax.

Following an investigation by the Met's Counter Terrorism Command team, Jeyabalasingam was arrested on July 31 and charged with making a bomb hoax under the Criminal Law Act 1977.

He appeared at Redbridge Magistrates' Court on August 1 and pleaded guilty, and was today sentenced at Snaresbrook Crown Court.

The Lancashire seaside theme park has an estimated six million visitors a year, and features more than 120 rides and attractions.