Flamingo Land fined after toddler falls off ride (From York Press)

Flamingo Land fined after toddler falls off ride

8:48am Tuesday 17th November 2009 in News

A NORTH Yorkshire theme park has been fined £5,000 after a toddler fell eight feet through a simulator ride.

Malton-based theme park Flamingo Land Ltd, which pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety At Work Act, was also ordered to pay £3,277 costs at Scarborough Magistrates Court yesterday.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) said the toddler, aged two at the time of the incident in March 2008, fell through a two-foot square hole on to a concrete floor as he boarded a newly-refurbished “Motion Master” simulator cinema ride with his mother. He escaped serious injury, but suffered bruising to his head, the HSE said.

After the hearing, HSE inspector Julian Franklin said: “These are very severe health and safety breaches, which could have resulted in serious injury.

“The Motion Master simulator cinema ride had only been operational for three weeks and had been subject to various internal safety checks, so this was a major oversight on the part of the company.”

The Press tried to contact Flamingo Land yesterday, but was unable to speak to anyone.