ONE of the region's top attractions has been fined £40,000 after a five-year-old girl suffered horrific injuries when her leg became trapped while on a rollercoaster.

Lucy Hibbert had been riding on The Ladybird during a visit to Lightwater Valley Theme Park, near Ripon, in June 2012 when her right leg and foot came out the carriage and became trapped between the platform edge and the carriage as the ride returned to its starting point.

A hearing at York Crown Court, which came just weeks after a girl died on a ride at Drayton Manor theme park in Staffordshire, heard the carriage advanced the full length of the platform while Lucy’s leg remained trapped.

The girl, from Dunedin, New Zealand, who had been on holiday with her family in North Yorkshire, suffered severe injuries to her foot and leg which included ligament, cartilage and nerve damage.

An investigation by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) found contractor David Geary had been tasked by Lightwater Valley, which Visit England said attracted 315,000 visitors in 2015, to carry out an assessment on the rollercoaster and failed to adequately identify the risk of entrapment between the carriage and the platform.

On its website, the theme park states: "Our Ladybird coaster has introduced many a junior thrill-seeker to the fantastic sensation of having the wind in their hair as they dip, twist and turn their way around our ladybird track! Don’t be fooled though as this ride is a little faster and scarier than you think when you’re sitting in the front seat!"

Previous incidents at the theme park include Durham University student Gemma Savage dying after a collision on the Treetop Twister ride in 2001 and a deer being killed after being hit by Europe’s longest rollercoaster - the Ultimate - while visitors were on the ride in 2014.

Lightwater Valley Attractions Ltd of Merseyside, Liverpool, pleaded guilty to breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was also ordered to pay costs of £17,000.

David Geary, of Taffs Well, Cardiff, was found guilty of breaching the Health and Safety at Work Act and was fined £7,500 and ordered to pay costs of £2,500.

After the hearing, Lucy’s father, Paul Hibbert, said: “Lucy has undergone extensive physiotherapy to help strengthen and heal her foot after the second round of reconstructive surgeries.

Her foot is still lumpy and scarred and is a size and a half smaller than her other foot so we need to pack her shoes with tissues so they don’t slip off.”

HSE inspector Kate Dixon added: “The company failed to ensure that members of the public were not exposed to such risks. The possibility of limbs being trapped in this way on the Ladybird ride was foreseeable and should have been dealt with properly by both parties.

“Following the start of the HSE investigation, an Improvement Notice was served on Lightwater Valley Attractions Ltd and it made a number of changes to the ride to reduce the risk of entrapment.”

Mark Bainbridge, general manager of Lightwater Valley Attractions Ltd, said the firm's first thoughts were with Lucy and the Hibbert family.

He said: “We have always been and continue to be committed to ensuring the health, safety and welfare of all our visitors and our employees. We fully complied with all requests made by the Health and Safety Executive and have co-operated throughout.

“Every year we welcome hundreds of thousands of people to the theme park and can assure all visitors to Lightwater Valley that their safety will always be of paramount importance.”