Charles Dickens theme park set to open

CHATHAM, England - In Dickens World, rat catchers hunt vermin on London's cobbled streets, pickpockets roam the alleys — and visitors line up for a fun-tastic water ride.

A new theme park inspired by the work of Charles Dickens aims to transform a 70,000-square-foot warehouse near London into a teeming — and family-friendly — corner of Victorian England.

Literary purists may balk, but the attraction's backers are confident.