Human error which led to the manual override of a safety control system has been blamed for causing a crash on an Alton Towers ride.
An investigation has revealed that the crash on The Smiler rollercoaster on June 2, 2015, which left four people seriously injured was not caused by any technical or mechanical problems.
Instead a failure follow the appropriate safety protocols by staff was blamed for the crash.
As a result, a statement released by the theme park has revealed a number of new measures being introduced to ensure there incident is not repeated.
The statement read: “On re-opening, The Smiler ride will also incorporate an extensive set of new safety measures, including technical improvements and enhanced training.
“An additional level of authorisation will also be added to the existing supervisory protocols to ensure that no manual override process may be completed without a senior member of staff authorising and being in attendance.
“The technical improvements include multiple additional CCTV cameras and additional manual reset buttons around the track which require staff to inspect each individual section to verify it is clear before authorisation can be given to restart the ride.”
It added immediately after the incident the theme park implemented a number of additional safety measures across all of its multi-car rollercoasters to prevent the incident happening again.
The statement also said: “Alton Towers continues to provide help and support to all of those who were on the ride when the incident happened.
“It has taken full responsibility for the incident and continues to co-operate with the on-going Health and Safety Executive investigation.
“We are confident that lessons have been learned and that appropriate action has been taken to address all the issues raised by our investigation and we believe our core conclusions will be in line with the HSE findings.”
It added the ride at the theme park, which is currently closed for the winter break will reopen next year.
The crash led to a downturn in visitor numbers in the key summer months, leading to the park having to cut back 190 jobs.