.jpg "Image illustrating Funfair safety under fire due to regulatory failures")
A BBC Panorama investigation has raised serious concerns over the effectiveness of the UK’s funfair ride safety regime, following a string of incidents involving injuries and inspection failures.
Broadcast on 3 June 2024, the programme focused on a catalogue of ride accidents and suggested that critical safety standards are not being upheld, despite the sector being regulated under HSG 175 - Fairgrounds and amusement parks: Guidance on safe practice.
Key incidents
Panorama featured the case of 11-year-old Sienna Knowles, who suffered a fractured skull and brain injury in April 2023 after being thrown from the "Superstar" ride at a Hull funfair. Her mother, Laura, told the programme she believed her daughter was dead when she first found her.
The investigation revealed the ride had passed a safety inspection just one day earlier.
Another child was injured on the same type of ride in Hillingdon in 2022. That ride had also passed an inspection just days before the accident. The manufacturer, Tivoli, has since recalled the model globally.
Despite the seriousness of these events, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) confirmed that it had not carried out any inspections of the Superstar ride prior to these incidents.
Gaps in the inspection process
Amusement rides in the UK are subject to annual inspections under the Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme (ADIPS). However, Panorama found that these inspections may not be consistently rigorous.
Unlike vehicle MOTs, where test centres are regularly audited by the DVSA, the bodies inspecting funfair rides operate with limited oversight. HSE guidance requires inspection bodies to be accredited by UKAS (United Kingdom Accreditation Service), but Panorama revealed that UKAS does not routinely assess inspectors’ on-site competence.
One of the inspection bodies, Safety Scan Ltd, had its accreditation suspended in 2022 after the HSE found it was not adequately assessing the integrity of ride structures.
Martin Kent, whose daughter Millie suffered neck and back injuries on a ride in 2021, told Panorama: “It’s scandalous. These rides are being signed off as safe when they’re not being properly checked.”
Regulatory response
In response to the programme, the HSE stated: “We have taken enforcement action where serious failings have been identified and continue to review how inspections are carried out. We are committed to protecting public safety at funfairs and amusement parks.”
ADIPS Ltd said it was reviewing its practices and would work closely with the HSE to strengthen oversight. It added that individual inspectors bear ultimate responsibility for ensuring a ride’s safety and compliance.
UKAS confirmed to Panorama that it accredits inspection bodies based on management systems but does not directly audit individual ride inspections.
“We trusted the system”
Sienna Knowles’s family is calling for an overhaul of the ride inspection regime. “We trusted the ride was safe because it had passed all the checks. That trust is gone,” said Laura Knowles.
The BBC’s investigation raises broader questions about regulatory enforcement and the adequacy of current safety standards, especially as the summer fair season begins.
No criminal charges have been brought in relation to the incidents featured, though civil claims are ongoing in several cases.
The programme concluded with a call from campaigners and victims’ families for the introduction of stricter legal accountability and better public access to inspection records.
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