Scottish theme park sued for 5 figures over rollercoaster failure that injured 'terrified' 12-year-old girls

A theme park is being sued after two young girls were injured when a faulty rollercoaster derailed during a ride.

The 12-year-old girls were on the Runaway Timber Train at Landmark Forest Adventure Park after a “mechanical fault” caused the ride to lose its wheels in August 2021. The carriages toppled down the track before coming to a halt at the bottom where they dangled off the edge of the track with people trapped inside.

The families' solicitor, Digby Brown, said the girls had suffered neck injuries and continue to suffer psychological trauma.

The ride was shut down four months after the incident. The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) said it had carried out a “thorough criminal investigation” but the case had not reached the threshold of prosecution, but added it had taken enforcement action against a third party contractor.

The families of the girls say they are taking legal action against park bosses Visitor Centres Ltd in a bid to reveal what went wrong and help improve the safety of other parks. The father of one of the girls recalled the trauma of seeing his daughter caught in the derailment.

He said: “The ride was at the highest point when I heard a bang, saw smoke and a set of wheels flying off one of the carriages. The rollercoaster plummeted to the bottom, but juddered around as it did because it obviously wasn’t connected to the tracks properly.

“Me and the other parents could only look and shout as we saw our girls bashed around and thrown about while stuck inside the carriage. After about 30 seconds, it all stopped with the carriage sort of hanging off the side.”

The father added: “We could see our daughters were terrified and in pain, but there was nothing we could do while they were trapped there. I genuinely thought my girl was going to die.”

The incident happened shortly after 11am on August 12, 2021. After the terrifying ordeal, the girls were checked over by paramedics who arrived on scene – they were then taken to Badenoch and Strathspey Community Hospital in Aviemore.

Medics conducted X-rays on the girls and confirmed they suffered significant whiplash injuries. Both girls, who are from the Scottish Borders, made a physical recovery but still experience anxiety symptoms and flashbacks.

The mother of the second injured girl added: “It was terrifying to feel so helpless when you know your child is in distress – I still feel that pain and anxiety today. Our sincere thanks go to the emergency workers and medical staff who cared for our children that day.

“The theme park told us nothing afterwards and neither has the HSE. Here we are, three years later, and we are still being ignored – it’s all ludicrous and, frankly, does little to inspire trust or confidence.”

A court action has now been raised against Visitor Centres Ltd, which runs the theme park. Park bosses have denied liability and argue the rollercoaster maintenance company is to blame.

However, court papers allege the park received a safety alert seven years earlier in February 2014 from the manufacturer of the rollercoaster.

The alarm was sounded after a potential crack in the main support shaft connected to the wheels was spotted following previous incidents in England and India. There was no evidence of the park acting on this warning.

Mairi Day, partner at Digby Brown Solicitors in Edinburgh, said: “People expect to be thrilled at theme parks, but they should never expect to actually be harmed. Parks and attractions are legally required to risk assess and maintain attractions and while safety regulations are strict, they are also very simple, so if all work is done as it should be, then there’s no reason for these kinds of incidents to take place.

“But with Runaway Timber Train, the available evidence shows there were gaps in the safety process which resulted in the injury of these two young girls and it is only right that those responsible are held to account.”

A spokesman for Landmark Forest Adventure Park said: “We very much regret this incident occurred. Landmark Forest Adventure Park fully cooperated with HSE’s investigation into this incident which resulted in no enforcement action of any kind being taken against us by HSE. We also carried out our own investigation into the incident.

“Our investigation confirmed that the defect which contributed to the accident should have been detected by a specialist contractor during the annual Non Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection prior to the incident. We understand that HSE’s investigations reached the same conclusion.”

It added: “We provided an independent expert report to Digby Brown in December 2022 confirming the outcome of our investigation. We have heard nothing further from Digby Brown subsequently and are therefore surprised to be included in the court action which we will robustly defend. We note that Digby Brown have also raised court action against the specialist contractor.

“We were not placed under any restrictions regarding the operation of the rollercoaster following the accident. However, we made the decision not to operate the rollercoaster on our site following the accident and it is no longer on site.

A HSE spokesperson said: “Our sympathies are with anyone involved in incidents of this nature. 

“We carried out a thorough criminal investigation which has now concluded. The threshold for prosecution is extremely high, and was not met on this occasion. We took enforcement action against another company relating to the testing of the ride.”