Ten days after a crash on Alton Towers’ Smiler rollercoaster seriously injured four passengers, the Staffordshire, UK, theme park was yesterday forced to close two more of its headline rides amid safety fears.
Ride Air and Runaway Mine Train were shut down yesterday morning after a park visitor spotted a large metal clip that was feared to have dropped off one of the rides.
Visitor Ashley Sandle told ITV: "We were queuing up for Air to get on as soon as it opened but I saw something under the track. I picked it up and it was a big clunky metal clip. I didn’t know what it could be but thought it must be important.
"I found a member of staff and handed it to him and explained where I had found it. His face went deathly white and ran off to his supervisor.
"A few minutes later an announcement came out over the tannoy saying Air was shut because of technical difficulties," adding that the ride re-opened half-an-hour later but then shut again.
The news comes as those injured in last week’s Smiler crash continue their recoveries with 17 year old Leah Washington had a leg amputated as a result of her injuries.
