After the disaster... Alton Towers ghost town
IT WAS once Britain’s number one theme park, with families queuing for hours to experience its rides.
But nearly two months on from the rollercoaster crash which saw two visitors lose a leg, Alton Towers is deserted.
Some rides are carrying just a few passengers at a time, while benches which would normally be packed with families enjoying lunch are empty, despite the bright sunshine.
Due to the lack of crowds, Alton Towers bosses have pushed closing time back to 5pm – an hour earlier than usual. The Staffordshire park welcomed almost three million visitors last summer. But at 9.45am on Thursday, just 15 minutes before opening, only a handful of vehicles had arrived in the car park.
The Smiler – the ride which crashed on June 2 leaving five people seriously injured – remains closed. Riders Leah Washington, 18, from Barnsley, and Vicky Balch, 20, from Lancashire, both had to have a leg amputated.
For visitors the calm was welcomed, with many taking the opportunity to board rides again and again.
Student Beth Taylor, 20, from Birmingham, said she had been on the rollercoaster Nemesis 12 times. ‘We got on all our favourite rides no problem at all,’ she added. ‘We’re dizzy from going on Nemesis so many times. I’ve been before and we only managed it once.’
Meanwhile a couple, who did not want to be named, said that although it was ‘great’ that the grounds were empty, they found it hard to block recent events from the ‘back of their minds’.
The pictures of the eerily deserted park come after Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainment warned that profits could slump by as much as £47million this year.
A park spokesman acknowledged visitor numbers had been lower since the accident, but added: ‘We have more than 50 fantastic rides and attractions, and at the moment visitors are seeing reduced queuing times.’