Dozens stranded on Chessington theme park ride

A total of 39 people have been rescued from a ride at a Surrey theme park after being stranded for more than three hours.

Most of those on the Rameses Revenge ride at Chessington World of Adventures were children, London Fire Brigade said.

Fire crews had to cut safety harnesses to free everyone from the ride 20ft (6m) up and then got them down by ladder.

Station manager Justin Coo said: "No injuries have been reported though a few people are understandably a bit uncomfortable as they had been stuck for some time."

In a statement, Chessington said a technical problem led to "the automatic fail-safe system bringing the ride to a controlled stop".

"We are very sorry for any discomfort our guests experienced during the delay," the statement added.