April 23, 2019 11.41 am This story is over 59 months old

“Our bar’s not down”: Video of girls’ terrified screams on Skegness ride

The girls’ mother spoke to management staff

Sisters Katie and Emily Ley.

Two girls can be heard on video screaming “our bar’s not down” during a horrifying ride experience in Skegness.

As previously reported, Nicola Ley from Lincoln took her daughters Emily, 11, and Katie, 9, on a family day out to Skegness on April 10. The girls were eager to try the Queen Bee rollercoaster but it wasn’t the exciting experience they were expecting.

The Queen Bee ride at Botton’s Pleasure Beach.

The shoulder/body restraints weren’t pulled down manually by the operative, said Nicola. She said the girls were on the ride “without a bar or shoulder restraint” for a lap of the lower run of the rollercoaster before the carriage was brought back into the station.

In a video sent to Nicola from someone sat in front of her daughter you can hear the girls screaming in the background that “our bar’s not down”.

Nicola told Lincolnshire Reporter: “I’ve received criticism and abuse with it being an ‘alleged incident’ and wanted to prove it occurred.”

Nicola Ley with her daughters Emily (left) and Katie (right) on the bus to Skegness earlier in the day.

Nicola previously said she spoke to management staff who told her the operator would be dealt with. She said the operator apologised and said he was ‘in a rush to get the ride started and didn’t see them’.

She added that she was offered £10 for the tokens she had purchased and by way of compensation she would get free wristbands for the day.

Skegness Police also took a statement from Nicola and advised her to contact the health and safety executives. Nicola then revisited the venue and asked to speak to the park manager.

She said she was then told an incident report would be filed and that the attendant had been there for a number of years and was fully trained. They told her he had been given a verbal warning.

General Manager at Botton’s Pleasure Beach Mitchell Powley told Lincolnshire Reporter that the ride operator was dismissed, staff were retrained and that they have “done everything and spoken to the right people”.

He said the managing director rang and spoke to Nicola and updated her on the situation before Easter weekend.

He added that LTC (Leisure Technical Consultants) came out to do a report and everything came back fine. He also said that the Health and Safety Executive are happy with the ride and its paperwork.