Alton Towers owner to be prosecuted over Smiler rollercoaster crash

The owner of Alton Towers is to be prosecuted over the rollercoaster accident in which several people were seriously injured.

Two young women, Victoria Balch and Leah Washington, had legs amputated and three others suffered life-changing injuries after the crash on the theme park's Smiler ride in June last year.

​The Health and Safety Executive announced on Thursday that the owner, Merlin, faces legal action.

The accident happened when a car on the ride collided with a stationary carriage in front on June 2. It was caused by human error, the theme park claimed in November.

Neil Craig, head of operations for HSE in the Midlands, said: “We have today informed Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd that it will be prosecuted for breaching health and safety law.

“This was a serious incident with life-changing consequences for five people.

“We have conducted a very thorough investigation and consider that there is sufficient evidence and that it is in the public interest to bring a prosecution.”

The HSE announcement came on the same day that Merlin - which also owns attractions such as Legoland, Madame Tussauds and the London Eye - said it had overcome a fall in revenues at its theme parks to post a pre-tax profit rise of 0.3 per cent to £250 million in the year to December 26, compared with a year ago.

It said Alton Towers had a "significant" fall in visitor numbers after the accident, which resulted in the 500-acre theme park in Staffordshire being shut down for four days.