Shockwave ride at Drayton Manor theme park in UK evacuated

Visitors to the Drayton Manor theme park in Tamworth, Staffordshire in the UK said staff were forced to evacuate the Shockwave ride on Saturday.

A video filmed by Greg Taylor showed the ride stopped with people on board.

"Many people evacuated and nobody from Drayton Manor would comment," said Taylor.

The £4m rollercoaster is one Europe's only stand up rides and is described as being "the ultimate for speed-demons and adrenaline junkies".

Lesley Davin, 54, of Sutton Coldfield was visiting the theme park with her two granddaughters today and said Shockwave was closed for most of the morning.

She told the Express: "They had to make the people on the ride walk down the metal steps that run alongside the carriage. It must have been terrifying as its so high up.

"The girls wanted to go on it today but it hasn't been open most of the morning and I'm not sure I want to let them now.

"You think of what happened at Alton Towers and you begin to fear the worst when rides stop working. Its quite an old roller coaster now.

"Several other rides haven't been in operation either so its been a pretty disappointing day so far, to be honest."

In a statement William Bryan, managing director of Drayton Manor Park, said: "At 10:35 today, Shockwave experienced a temporary stoppage on the lift and guests were evacuated.

"At no point was guest safety compromised.

"A number of other rides were also temporarily closed.

"The Bounty is also out of operation today for planned, routine maintenance work.

"We sincerely apologise to our visitors for any inconvenience caused and stress that the safety of our guests is our priority."

An 11-year-old girl died at the theme park in May 2017 after she fell off a water rapids ride while on a school trip.