Oblivion, Enterprise and Sonic Spinball return to service
Three rides taken out of service in the wake of The Smiler incident returned to service this afternoon (Monday 15th June). X Sector, Adventureland and the area in front of the Towers had remained sealed off over the course of the weekend, with staff continuing to hand out free return tickets to guests due to the low availability of rides. However, the rides and areas reopened to guests at around 1pm this afternoon.
X Sector had been closed since the incident to allow the HSE to carry out their investigations, which resulted in Oblivion and Enterprise being unavailable to guests, whereas Sonic Spinball was closed to allow additional safety protocols to be implemented before reopening. These additional safety protocols also affected the reopening of other multi-car rides at Merlin’s other parks in the UK, with Rattlesnake and Dragon’s Fury at Chessington, and Saw at Thorpe Park being closed. At the time of writing, Dragon’s Fury has reopened, but Rattlesnake and Saw remain closed.
One immediately obvious change in X Sector is the removal The Smiler’s signage. One of our Twitter followers, TheCoaster76 sent us a photo from the park today showing the removed entrance sign and a staff member stationed at the ride’s entrance. Investigations into the incident on the ride are still ongoing, and as of yet there has been no announcement on what the future holds for the park’s newest thrill ride.
There are still some other closures of attractions across the resort at present. Nemesis Sub-Terra remains closed, as it has done since before The Smiler’s incident nearly a fortnight ago. The park are stating this is due to design changes, and there is no planned date for reopening at present. Ripsaw has suffered from technical issues and is currently unavailable, with technicians seen to be working on the ride on Sunday.
Ofcom take no further action on Kay Burley interview
Ofcom have announced they will not be launching an investigation into Kay Burley’s interview with Merlin Entertainments CEO Nick Varney. The interview, which according to Ofcom’s latest broadcast bulletin attracted 1816 complaints, also resulted in a petition calling for her to be sacked from her post as a presenter on Sky News. The petition has so far attracted over 56,000 signatures after gaining widespread exposure on social media and news outlets. Many complained that Kay Burley’s interview style prevented Nick Varney from being able to answer questions, and her persistence to try to gain medical information on the victims amounted to an invasion of privacy.
Due to the number of complaints, Ofcom were required to make a decision on whether a full investigation was to be mounted. In its decision to not take the matter forward today, Ofcom stated they had “carefully assessed whether this interview exceeded generally accepted standards”, but that they had determined that “the interviewee was able to respond fully to the questions and put his position across”.
A thank you from the TowersStreet Team
And finally, we’d like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has played a part in TowersStreet over the years as we celebrate our third birthday. Whether you’re a past team member, a poster on our forum, contributed to content on our website or just take time out to read our articles and posts on our website or Facebook – thank you for being part of TowersStreet!
A really special thanks also has to go to all who have attended our meetups over the years. Be it a mini meet at Alton Towers, or at one of our official meets in the UK or abroad, you’ve all played a part in making TowersStreet the unique fan site we’ve always aimed to create. You might have seen our new birthday cover image on Facebook, and we know it might be a little difficult to see everyone in the images. So, if you’ve attended one of our meets, download the large image below and see if you can spot yourself!
Thanks again to everyone for being part of TowersStreet, and here’s to many more years to come!
