'Absolute carnage' at Thorpe Park Fright Night

Thorpe Park said a "small minority failed to follow the rules" at Sunday's Fright Night

Guests were attacked, staff abused and social distancing rules broken during a night of "absolute carnage" at Thorpe Park, Newsbeat has been told.

The park said it asked some people to leave its Fright Night event for "intimidating and threatening behaviour".

Guests reported being kicked and punched and "massive groups of people without masks not being broken up".

Surrey Police said it was working with the park after Sunday's disorder.

One guest, who did not want to be named, described Sunday as "the most horrendous day".

"There were massive groups of people everywhere - we're talking 20-plus - without masks, not being broken up," she said.

"It was scary, we only went on three rides and spent the rest of the time hiding in bars and cafes, we just didn't want to be walking around. People came up into our faces, shouting in our faces.

"There was a group of people behind us in a maze queue that shoved us from behind and we saw people being kicked and a lady punched and some 'scare zones' were closed because actors were abused.

"There were a lot of complaints, it was absolute carnage."

Another guest said she was punched in the head by a teenage boy in the Creek Freaks Unchained experience.

She said: "It shocked me and hurt a lot.

"My friends alerted the staff and actors, who were brilliant and came to my aid extremely quickly and made sure I was given the correct first aid treatment and made me feel better by making me laugh.

"A certain group of guests were walking around and gathering in the park in large numbers - way more than six, it was more like 50. It was intimidating and scary.

"My boyfriend and I know a lot of the actors and they all looked terrified and scared themselves, it was distressing."

'Leave immediately'

Thorpe Park said the safety and wellbeing of its guests and staff were its top priority.

Since it reopened on 4 July, the park has operated at approximately 50% capacity with new safety measures in place.

A spokesperson said: "While our guests normally comply with these measures, on Sunday there was an isolated issue with a small minority who failed to follow these rules, including social distancing within their groups.

"Some of these guests also demonstrated intimidating and threatening behaviour. We take these sort of incidents very seriously and we asked those guests to leave immediately."

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Monday night's Fright Night had no reported incidents.

Surrey Police said it was called on Sunday to reports that "social distancing regulations were being breached by a group of people".

The force added: "We are working with the park to establish the circumstances of these reports. Our inquiries remain ongoing."