Thrill seekers at Barry Island Pleasure Park were stuck on a ride for 15 minutes while engineers tried to fix a fault. Father Nick Linsey was watching his two young children on the ride when it stopped on Good Friday seconds after starting.
Mr Linsey told WalesOnline one person on the ride was blind and he was surprised there was “no communication” from staff at the park as to what was happening and when the ride might be able to continue. Amusement park owner Henry Danter has responded saying he is satisfied with the response, that staff should notify riders of what is happening if the ride has been stuck for half an hour, and has apologised to all riders who were stuck.
The Top Scan ride spins quickly in a circular motion and goes up, down and upside down. The riders were stuck in an upright position when the ride stopped suddenly at around 3.30pm on April 7.
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Mr Linsey, 31, said: “My whole family were on the ride and there was a younger blind kid on there as well and I felt uncomfortable with that because no-one was giving any information. Before the ride started a guy had a screwdriver out and he was fixing things at the back of the seats. It must have been 20 minutes while people were sitting on the ride.
“The ride started and things seemed to be going all right and then it came to a stop and the music stopped and no-one was really saying anything. Five minutes later a woman came and was pressing some buttons and then another guy was looking at the top and nothing was happening.
“Another five or ten minutes passed and then another guy came with a harness and he was fiddling around with a button and eventually they got let down. My brother was on the ride and he gets quite anxious with rides anyway. The kids too are quite new to Barry Island and it took some convincing to get them to go on.
“The longer it went on everyone started looking around a bit confused. I was getting quite irritated.”
Riders were given tokens for the inconvenience but Mr Danter said he will personally apologise to riders and give them free passes to rides if they return to the park. “When you have a cut out like that you lower it to the floor which they did, and you’ve got to check everything,” Mr Danter said.
“A trip went out but before you can start it up again you need to lower it and check everything. 99% of the time it’s caused by water and damp but we couldn’t be sure of that so we followed the procedure which does take 10 to 15 minutes.
“The ride carried on running for the rest of the day and we found there was nothing wrong. It was probably just damp, or because it hadn’t been used all winter and it had been refurbished. Everything is checked every morning here and we have a very good safety record. I’ve been operating rides for over 70 years and I’ve never had more than a bump, bruise or broken nail.
“I’m very upset this happened but I’m satisfied the proper procedure was taken. I send them my apologies and I’d be very pleased to meet them and I’ll give them free rides or something.”
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