A SHOWMAN has been charged with a health and safety offence after a girl was allegedly thrown from a fairground ride at last year’s Copmanthorpe Carnival.

The young person, believed to come from Tadcaster, was among thousands of parents and children at the annual family day out on July 3, 2010. She suffered cuts and bruises in an incident, which allegedly involved the Cliffhanger ride. Terry Reynolds, of Showman’s Winter Quarters, Wakefield Road, Dewsbury, was summonsed to appear before York Magistrates’ Court, charged under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974.

He was accused of being an employee who failed to take reasonable care of the health and safety of people on the Cliffhanger ride and that as a result, a member of the public fell from the machine.

He did not enter a plea and his case was adjourned to August 11.

North Yorkshire Police attended the scene and immediately impounded the ride. They later handed over investigation to the Health and Safety Executive, which carried out engineering checks on the ride before releasing it to its owners, among other inquiries. Their investigation led to the court case against Reynolds.

The incident occurred as a record-breaking crowd enjoyed the carnival last year.

A mini-heatwave in a generally poor summer enticed 5,000 people from as far afield as Doncaster to attend the day long event at and around Copmanthorpe Recreation Centre.