You can’t blame ride disaster for slump, Alton Towers is told
ALTON TOWERS has had a second attempt to cut its tax bill turned down after a court ruled that its owners were wrong to blame a horrific rollercoaster crash for a slump in trade.
The theme park’s owners said it suffered a downturn because of a highly-publicised catastrophe three years ago that left Leah Washington, then 17, and Vicky Balch, 20, requiring partial leg amputations. Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments argued that its £4million business rates bill should be reduced because potential visitors had been put off using the rides and that it had also decided to rein back marketing because of the crash. Its first attempt failed in April.
At the second attempt, Ian Crabbe, a divisional director speaking for Merlin, said the company was ‘cognisant of not necessarily making a big deal out of big coasters for a while’.
He said queue times at the park reduced by 26 per cent after the fall in visitor numbers following the crash in June 2015.
But in a judgment released last week a tribunal found there had been similar falls in visitor numbers in the years before the crash that were likely due to rival attractions. It said in such cases a ‘material change in circumstances’ did not occur.
The company said ‘thousands of companies have requested a reassessment of the rates they pay’ as bills have soared.
It added: ‘We appealed the rates decision because it does not reflect Alton Towers’ historical performance. This in no way diminishes our responsibility for what happened or any liability in relation to the accident. We do not intend to make a further appeal.’