CHILDREN were left hysterical and at least two suffered head wounds after a junior rollercoaster came to a sudden halt at a family theme park.

Adventure Wonderland at Hurn was packed with children enjoying the Bank Holiday sunshine on Monday when a fault developed on Wild Bill’s Runaway Train at around 1.45pm.

The emergency brakes locked suddenly as a failsafe mechanism kicked in, throwing the dozen riders sharply forwards.

Paramedics treated people at the scene and one child with head injuries was taken to Poole Hospital as a precaution.

The incident follows the failure of another attraction at the park in June last year when a cable snapped on the PollyDrop ride.

Then, a woman was taken to hospital with bruising to her back and two children were treated for shock.

Richard Beckley, who was on the rollercoaster with his eight-year-old daughter Carmen yesterday, told how two children behind them had been left with heavily bleeding cuts to their heads, while several others, including him, suffered bumps and bruises.

He said: “Everybody’s heads were thrown forwards. Children were screaming and shouting. One girl behind had a massive gash to her head and was absolutely hysterical.

“The young lad with her, who was probably about six or seven, was bleeding from above his eye.

“The children were absolutely hysterical – screaming and shouting. You don’t take your children out on a bank holiday and expect that.”

He said he helped the girl, applying pressure to the wound until her parents arrived.

“I just wanted to get my daughter out of there,” he added. “She wasn’t hurt, but the sight of a lot of blood and children screaming and the fact that it could have been her was really stressing her out.

“I was going to take her to Legoland this half term but there is no point now – she’ll be too stressed out by the rides.”

Park managing director Russell Lucas said the runaway train had detected a fault with the brakes as it made its final approach to the station and the safety mechanism kicked in – causing the carriages to stop immediately.

He said: “All passengers were restrained by the safety barriers but the sudden stop caused several minor injuries. The train was travelling at no more than 5mph at the time. The park is sorry for this incident, but relieved the safety mechanism did work successfully”

The train was due to undergo a full inspection at 8am today.