A SCOTTISH theme park is being sued after two young girls were injured when a rollercoaster derailed during a ride.
The incident happened after a “mechanical fault” caused the Runaway Timber Train at Landmark Forest Adventure Park near Aviemore to lose its wheels on August 12, 2021.
The carriages then tumbled down the track and dangled off the edge with people still trapped inside.
This included two 12-year-old girls from the Borders, who suffered neck injuries and continue to suffer psychological trauma from the incident.
The ride was shut down four months after the incident.
The Health & Safety Executive (HSE) has still not disclosed any investigation findings.
The families of the girls have now launched court action against park bosses Visitor Centres Ltd and argue the rollercoaster maintenance company is to blame.
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Mairi Day, partner at Digby Brown Solicitors in Edinburgh, said: "People expect to be thrilled at theme parks but they should never expect to actually be harmed.
“Parks and attractions are legally required to risk assess and maintain attractions and while safety regulations are strict, they are also very simple, so if all work is done as it should be then there’s no reason for these kinds of incidents to take place.
“But with Runaway Timber Train the available evidence shows there were gaps in the safety process which resulted in the injury of these two young girls and it is only right that those responsible are held to account.”
A statement from Landmark Park said: "We very much regret this incident occurred. "Landmark Forest Adventure Park fully cooperated with HSE’s investigation into this incident which resulted in no enforcement action of any kind being taken against us by HSE. We also carried out our own investigation into the incident.
"Our investigation confirmed that the defect which contributed to the accident should have been detected by a specialist contractor during the annual Non Destructive Testing (NDT) inspection prior to the incident. We understand that HSE’s investigations reached the same conclusion.
"NDT testing is a legal requirement which must be carried out every 12 months in accordance with industry guidance. This is a specialist process which is carried out by an independent contractor, who must be approved by the industry body. The contractor we used came highly recommended by our industry body.
"Landmark acted swiftly following the safety alert issued in 2014. The park passed the industry safety alert to the specialist contractor who confirmed that the annual NDT testing which had already taken place that year was sufficient, and no additional action was required. NDT tests continued to be carried out annually.
"We provided an independent expert report to Digby Brown in December 2022 confirming the outcome of our investigation. We have heard nothing further from Digby Brown subsequently and are therefore surprised to be included in the court action which we will robustly defend. We note that Digby Brown have also raised court action against the specialist contractor.
"We were not placed under any restrictions regarding the operation of the rollercoaster following the accident. However, we made the decision not to operate the rollercoaster on our site following the accident and it is no longer on site."
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