A giant Gruffalo maze is opening this summer 90 minutes from Manchester

A Gruffalo maze is opening 90 minutes from Manchester this summer.

The much-loved children's book character has been revealed as the theme for this year's Giant Maize Maze at York Maze and opens on July 13.

The attraction has shared a number of photos to promote the event, but is keeping an aerial shot of the maze under wraps until the opening date.

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If previous years are anything to go by, with mazes themed around everything from Harry Potter and Star Wars to Lego and the Lion King, families will have a real treat in store as the venue marks 25 years of The Gruffalo story, written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler.

Creating the maze is no easy feat. Every year farmer Tom Pearcy cuts out over 5km of pathways in his 15-acre field (the equivalent of eight football pitches) and plants more than a million maize seeds.

It's only when the crop is fully grown by mid July that the image is fully formed and can be viewed from the air, a bit like crop circles.

“I used to love reading The Gruffalo to my children," said Tom. "It is something that appeals to grown-ups too. My design celebrating 25 Years of The Gruffalo has been cut out using GPS technology to plot the pathways. It is nerve wracking because I can’t tell if I’ve made a mistake and put a path in the wrong place until July when the maize plants are fully grown and the final image is revealed.”

Alex Sanson, senior brand manager for The Gruffalo at Magic Light Pictures, said: “We are so excited to see The Gruffalo as a maize maze as part of his 25th birthday celebrations.

"The Gruffalo’s Child is also featured in the design as she is marking 20 years this year. We hope that families in the local area will love exploring the Gruffalo Maize Maze and enjoy celebrating this special birthday!”.

Families have to navigate the maze of pathways in the crop to find the six viewing platforms and the special photo points featuring the animals in The Gruffalo story.

As well as the giant maze, the place is home to a number of smaller corn mazes, including the Jurassic Maze, featuring some life-sized dinosaurs.

There's a Maze of Illusions, with all sorts of mind bending puzzles and illusions; a Mineshaft Maze, a 3D labyrinth of crawl tunnels, bridges and overhead walkways; a Sunflower Fortune Maze, which involves colouring the ends of your fingers at different stations; and the Musical Maze, with the sound of drums, xylophones, tubular bells and more guiding you through it.

There's loads more to enjoy at the venue too, including more than 20 different rides, attractions and shows.

There's a climbing frame, an inflatable Cobstacle Course, a giant Popcorn Pillow, Corn Snake Tower slides, a Volcorno for kids to climb up and slide down and loads more.

The maze opens for the summer on Saturday, July 13 and remains open until September 2. Tickets can be booked online. You can get early bird tickets from £19.50 each for a set date. The most popular tickets are the 'advance flexible' tickets where you book for a certain date, but can swap to a different date if your plans change. These cost £22.50. Under threes go free.