A mother has described the harrowing experience of being trapped 50 feet in the air for more than two hours with her two young daughters after a rollercoaster malfunctioned at Pleasurewood Hills theme park. The incident occurred on bank holiday Monday when the Wipeout attraction came to a halt, leaving Stacey Stewart, 31, and her daughters Poppy, eight, and Marnie, seven, suspended above ground.
Twenty-seven people were on the ride when it broke down. According to reports, the rollercoaster stopped while changing direction. After an initial 10-minute pause, staff attempted an emergency release. However, this reportedly caused the carriage to move backwards, and it became stuck again midway through a loop, leaving passengers hanging face-up.
"It was horrendous, really scary," Stewart told the Daily Mail. "They had to manually release the ride, allowing us to shoot backwards. The girls are now shook up and so am I. It was horrible just seeing the concrete below you."
Stewart's partner, Joseph Bowman, was on the ground with their two younger daughters, 10-month-old Raya and three-year-old Isla, and witnessed the event. "I could see him and my babies down there," Stewart recalled. "When the cherry picker started coming up to the carriage, Isla ran forward and shouted: "Mummy, they're coming to get you." It's awful that she witnessed that."
One of the passengers, 13-year-old Honey Purkiss, described the moment the manual release failed. "When it went past the point where it was supposed to stop, his face changed. It dropped, and he looked absolutely horrified. Everyone was panicking, we initially thought they had lied to calm us down."
Her mother, Karen Purkiss, watched from below. "It was terrifying to watch my daughter when they were moving slowly and upside down. It wasn't nice at all," she said. "Everyone who was watching on was panicking, a lot were parents of children on the ride."
Suffolk Fire and Rescue Service crews responded to the incident, which began just before 1:30 p.m. They used cherry pickers and specialist rescue equipment to bring the stranded passengers to safety. Images released by the fire service showed firefighters climbing onto the ride to assist passengers.
A spokesman for the fire service confirmed that crews used advanced rescue at height equipment. The passengers were rescued at 4:05 p.m., spending more than two hours suspended approximately 15 meters above the ground. No injuries were reported.
The Wipeout rollercoaster, which opened in 2007, is described as East Anglia's tallest, fastest, and most extreme ride. It is the only Vekoma Boomerang model in the UK, known for its forward and backward ride experience including multiple inversions. The ride underwent a £1 million renovation in 2024/25, which included updated safety restraints. In 2017, firefighters rescued an injured man from the same rollercoaster after it broke down during heavy rainfall.