Universal Studios confirms plans for Britain's first theme park after scouts identified it as the best location in Europe… can you guess where?

Universal Studios says it is 'exploring' the possibility of opening its first ever UK theme park – in Bedford.

The entertainment giant says it has bought 480 hectares of land in Kempston Hardwick, which once housed a brick factory, and is exploring the possibility of building what would be its sixth theme park and its first in Europe.

There are currently five Universal Studios parks: Hollywood and Orlando in the US, Osaka in Japan, Sentosa in Singapore and Beijing in China – with Bedford potentially joining a park under construction in Texas.

It is believed that Universal has shown an interest in the county town of Bedfordshire due to its proximity to London (45 minutes by train) and short drive to London Luton Airport, making it easily accessible to the world.

A spokesperson for the pop culture giant said it would engage with the local community before making a solid decision on whether to greenlight the project — but local leaders are excited about the possibility.

Bedford town center (pictured) could soon be on the doorstep of Britain's Universal theme park

Universal Studios in Singapore. There are also parks in Hollywood, Osaka and Beijing

This map, published by Universal, shows the land (in yellow) purchased by the entertainment giant as it assesses the feasibility of the Bedford project

In its more than 100 years of producing films, Universal has been responsible for some of the world's most beloved films, including Jurassic Park, ET, Back To The Future and the Despicable Me series.

However, the theme parks also include franchises produced by other studios, such as Harry Potter, Transformers and The Simpsons, which are released under license.

Details about the rides are still a ways off – pending Universal's decision whether to continue the project or look elsewhere.

But if it were given the green light, the park would be about 40 miles away from The Making of Harry Potter studio tour, organized by rival Warner Brothers in Watford.

A spokesperson for Universal said: 'We have recently acquired land in Bedford and are in the early stages of exploring its feasibility for a potential park and resort at this location.'

'It will be many months before we are ready to make a decision to move forward and we look forward to engaging with all relevant stakeholders and the local community.'

Details of the British plans were reported by Orlando Park Stop earlier this week. It turned out that a website for 'Universal Studios Great Britain' had been registered by Universal's parent company, NBC Universal.

And Comcast, the US telecom company that controls NBC Universal, picked up a company with links to the Bedford brickworks in August.

It is listed as a 'person with significant control (PWSC)' of Cloud Wing UK Ltd at Companies House; Cloud Wing is itself listed as a PWSC of Kempston Hardwick Developments, which owns the brickworks, according to HM Land Registry.

Stewartby's brickworks was once the largest in the world, with the village of Stewartby built solely to house the workers.

However, the site was closed in 2008 and the chimneys have since been demolished after falling into a state of disrepair.

The interesting location was later confirmed by Universal, who provided a map of the land it had acquired to the local Bedford Independent newspaper.

Tom Wootton, the mayor of Bedford Borough Council, may have hinted at the site's future a week ago, joking that a £950 million road improvement in the area would bring Bedford to the brink of collapse. 'the center of the universe'.

At the Universal announcement he told the BBC: 'The suggestion of a major business investment is of course positive, but these are still early years and a lot of detailed work is still needed before any decisions are made.

“We are very pleased and excited about Universal's interest and the enormous potential for this to be transformative for the municipality.

'We are doing everything we can to ensure that all plans are in line with the interests of our residents.'

Theme park fan James Block told the Bedford Independent: 'Although it's still very early days, as a lifelong resident of Bedfordshire and theme park fan it would be great news for the area, a huge boost for the local economy, and make Bedford the place to be.

“People travel from all over the world to visit Universal Parks. It's great to see Bedford standing alongside Hollywood, Orlando, Beijing, Osaka and Singapore.”