Southport Pleasureland sorry after 19 people rescued from ride

A total of 19 people were rescued from the Rocket Coaster ride at Southport Pleasureland

The owners of theme park have apologised after a girl was injured and 18 other people were rescued from a rollercoaster that got stuck.

A girl lost consciousness after the Rocket Coaster ride at Southport Pleasureland stopped due to a fault at about 11:50 BST on Saturday.

Fire crews rescued a total of 19 people from the carriages.

The theme park said it was "sorry for the distress caused" and added a thorough investigation was going ahead.

The young girl was checked by ambulance paramedics and was taken to hospital.

Staff at the Southport amusement park, in Marine Drive, used a cherry picker to safely bring down the other passengers who were checked over by paramedics, Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MFRS) said.

The theme park said all routine maintenance checks had been carried out before the ride started.

"The ride did exactly what its safety settings are programmed to do and stopped on detecting a fault," a spokesman for Southport Pleasureland said.

"Nobody was at any risk of falling from the ride, the carriages were secure on the track and the park's operations director immediately made his way up the gantry to speak to riders and explain that they would be brought off the ride safely," he continued.

The spokesman added the park was "sorry for the distress caused to passengers".

The MFRS said the Health and Safety Executive was informed, with the ride to be isolated and a full inspection to be carried out.