A High Court bid to close down a company wanting to build a multi-billion pound theme park in Kent has been dismissed.

Ex-commercial partners Knight Frank LLP had been attempting to have London Resort Company Holdings (LRCH) removed from Companies House over alleged debts owed.

Bosses behind the planned £2.5bn attraction on the Swanscombe Peninsula, near Dartford, were presented with a winding up petition in the High Court on October 26.

According to the notice, it was submitted by property consultants Knight Frank LLP, who claim to be creditors of LRCH, whose business is described as the development of a "global destination entertainment resort".

But in a ruling made earlier today in the Chancery Division of the High Court, Chief ICC Judge Nicholas Briggs dismissed the petition.

The fees involved were not disclosed but judge Briggs determined the debt had been paid.

It's not the first time a business has sought redress from LRCH with law firm BDB Pitmans seeking to recover unpaid fees – understood to total more than £500,000 – from its former client last year.

London Resort says this matter has been "resolved, fully settled and paid".

Dozens of businesses operating in Swanscombe and Northfleet on land LRCH wants to build its Disneyland-style rival have also submitted claims over trade and job losses.

Firms have written to the Planning Inspectorate (PINS) – the body tasked with determining the bid – to ask that theme park bosses pay for costs incurred opposing the project.

It comes after an 11th-hour decision to pull the application in March due to environmental and transport issues.

Theme park bosses say a "world class" entertainment resort along the banks of the River Thames is still on the cards and a fresh application will be re-submitted next year.

It's been billed as one of the most ambitious theme park projects ever in Europe and would be the first of its kind to be built from scratch since the opening of Disneyland Paris in 1992.

If delivered, it aims to be the first operationally carbon neutral park, while also creating more than 35,000 jobs and road network improvements, such as an access route from the A2.

But to get to this stage it needs to overcome certain planning hurdles.

The government's recent classification of Tilbury as a Freeport has meant revisions are required in moving a ferry terminal from Tilbury to Grays, Essex.

A decision last year to designate large parcels of the Swanscombe Peninsula as a site of special scientific interest (SSSI) has also impacted the project.

It follows a campaign led by various green groups – including Buglife, CPRE Kent and Kent Wildlife Trust – all of which have now submitted their own claims for costs.

They have also set out an alternative vision for the site to be invested in as a nature reserve.

The London Resort is run by chief executive PY Gerbeau, the former boss of the Millennium Dome, and chaired by Steve Norris, a former Tory MP and transport minister under ex-Prime Minister John Major.

To win planning approval from the Housing Secretary the developers will also need to prove the finances are in place.

Kuwaiti businessman Abdulla Al-Humaidi, who also owns Ebbsfleet United Football Club, has helped bank-roll the project since 2013.

He stepped down from the LRCH board in March but his brother Dherar remains a director and representative for the family.

However, in the latest board member shake-up, Frank Baker, a former British ambassador to Iraq and Libya, and an ex-alumni of Dartford Grammar School for Boys, has now departed.

The diplomat joined the board in March as one of two new additions but according to Companies House his role as director was terminated on December 1.

In September 2020, LRCH raised a total of £10m in new funding, half of which was received from parties and investors and matched by the UK government backed Future Fund.

The company previously paid £1m to landowners Swanscombe Development LLP to extend an option to buy land wanted for the park until 2023, subject to certain conditions being met.

Andy Martin, a spokesman for London Resort said: “The team at the London Resort remains committed to bringing forward revised proposals in 2023.”