Alton Towers visitors left trapped after Galactica ride breaks down

The incident comes nearly a year after five people were left with serious injuries following a crash on the theme park’s Smiler rollercoaster

ir Galactaca stopped at around 2pm on Monday, leaving 28 people trapped (Christopher Furlong/Getty Image)

Dozens of people were left trapped on a rollercoaster after it ground to a halt in heavy rain at Alton Towers.

Air Galactica stopped at around 2pm on Monday, leaving 28 people stuck in "mid-air" on the ride after rainfall at the park blocked a sensor.

The Staffordshire theme park said it removed all 28 people safely from the ride within 19 minutes, however some witnesses have claimed rescue efforts took between 30 and 40 minutes.

Writing on Twitter, theme-park visitor, Thomas Symons said: "So being stuck mid air in the pouring rain on Galactica for 30 minutes was not pleasant." Another Twitter user said: "We were stuck at the top of it for 40 minutes! Still shaking!"

Some riders also claimed they had been trapped upside-down on the rollercoaster, which, according to the park, is the first ride to use graphics on headsets, giving riders a sense of virtual reality along with the loops and turns. The claims have been disputed by an Alton Towers spokesperson.

Others praised Alton Towers' staff for keeping those stuck "calm and informed" throughout the incident. The ride has since re-opened.

The theme park said in a statement: "Heavy rain obscured a sensor on Galactica which meant that the ride was automatically stopped.

"This is a standard safety feature on this ride and the ride was working exactly as it is designed to do.

"The health and safety of our guests is our number one priority and our team followed standard procedures to get the guests off as quickly and as safely as possible.

The incident comes nearly a year after five people were left with serious injuries following a crash on the theme park’s Smiler rollercoaster.

The accident on 2 June 2015 left two young women, Vicky Balch and Leah Washington, needing leg amputations after their carriage collided with a stationary car.

Merlin, the company that operates the theme park, admitted breaching health and safety laws over the Smiler rollercoaster crash indicating a guilty plea to a charge of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act in court in April.