The crash on the The Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers which seriously injured a Huddersfield student and four others was caused by “human error”.

A report by the theme park’s owner Merlin Entertainments confirmed the cause but said “lessons had been learned”.

The Smiler ride will be re-opened next year.

A statement from Merlin Entertainments said: “The investigation concluded that the incident was the result of human error culminating in the manual override of the ride safety control system without the appropriate protocols being followed.

“The investigation also identified areas where protocols and the training of employees should be improved. There were found to be no technical or mechanical problems with the ride itself.”

The park owners also said that improved safety measures had been put into place across all multi-car rollercoasters “to ensure that an incident of this nature can never happen again”.

They added: “Alton Towers continues to provide help and support to all of those who were on the ride when the incident happened. It has taken full responsibility for the incident and continues to co-operate with the ongoing Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.

“We are confident that lessons have been learned and that appropriate action has been taken to address all the issues raised.”

One of those badly injured was University of Huddersfield student Joe Pugh.

Joe Pugh on This Morning
Joe Pugh on This Morning

The textile design student, from Barnsley, was with his girlfriend Leah Washington in a front car of the ride when it crashed into an empty carriage.

Joe suffered serious injuries to both legs while teenager Leah had to have a leg amputated.

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Others injured were Vicky Balch and Daniel Thorpe, from Derbyshire, and Chandaben Chauhan, of Wednesbury, West Midlands.

Brave medics risked their lives to save the victims of the rollercoaster accident and Joe and Leah have just held a charity event to raise money for the emergency services.

The young couple organised a big event at Barnsley’s Metrodome Arena with bands, a DJ, auctions and a charity raffle and raised a staggering £20,000.

Joe said: “Thanks once again to everyone that attended, donated or helped out in any way towards the charity night Leah and myself held.

“The money is still coming in but we can reveal that we have raised an approximate amount of £20,000 which is absolutely amazing and we are so so grateful”.

Leah Washington with her parents and boyfriend Joe Pugh, a Huddersfield University student
Leah Washington with her parents and boyfriend Joe Pugh, a Huddersfield University student

The money will be divided between Staffordshire Fire and Rescue, University Hospitals of North Midlands (Stoke hospital) and Midlands Air Ambulance.

Joe said: “We are ridiculously grateful for what they have done.”.

Joe is studying textiles design at the University and hopes to resume his course shortly.

The crash resulted in the 500-acre theme park in Staffordshire being shut down for four days. Merlin also suspended UK theme park marketing and temporarily closed rides at two other sites.

Merlin saw like-for-live revenues tumble by 11.4% across its theme park division over the first nine months of its financial year after seeing “significantly” lower numbers of visitors to Alton Towers.

Other theme parks owned by Merlin, including Thorpe Park, were also badly hit.