POOLE’S leisure giant Merlin Entertainments has seen revenue rise despite the continued impact on its London attractions of last year’s terror attacks.

Chief executive Nick Varney said the capital’s tourist trade had been badly hit by the attacks and it would take “some time” to return to 2016 levels.

Revenue grew 4.7 per cent on an organic basis in the 40 weeks to October 6, or 2.6 per cent on a reported basis.

Growth was driven by new business development, including the launch of Peppa Pig World of Play and The Bear Grylls Adventure. Resort theme parks benefited from the warm weather in Europe, with revenue up nine per cent.

But the heatwave hit the midway division, which comprises indoor city centre attractions such as Sea Life, Madam Tussauds and the Dungeons. Revenue was down 0.7 per cent.

Chief executive Nick Varney said London tourism was picking up again but “it will still be some time before we get back to the position of late 2016”.

Legoland Parks posted organic revenue growth of 6.4 per cent but like-for-like growth was flat.

Mr Varney said that the parks are likely to benefit from the release of The Lego Movie 2 early next year.

Nicholas Hyett, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said it was “worrying” that Legoland’s performance was weaker.

He said: “It would be a mistake to lose sight of Merlin’s long-term strengths – namely an increasing demand for experiences over material goods and some excellent brands – but the group is undeniably going through a rough patch.