Dozen hurt in theme park crash

The tour vehicle slid down a bank and into a river

A dozen people, including young children, needed hospital treatment after a tour vehicle overturned and plunged into a river at a theme park.

Police said the incident happened at 1245 BST on Tuesday at the Diggerland complex in Langley Park, near Durham.

The articulated vehicle was giving 18 passengers a tour of the site, when it slipped down a bank, landing on its side in a river.

A six-year-old boy and a woman in her 30s were detained in hospital.

A spokesman for Durham Police said four adults and eight children were taken to the University Hospital at North Durham.

He said the most seriously hurt was a six-year-old boy, who suffered a serious foot injury, and a woman who suffered chest injuries.

The Health and Safety Executive has begun an investigation into the incident.

'Toppled over'

Diggerland has three sites - in County Durham, Strood in Kent and Verbeer Manor at Cullompton, Devon.

All the parks feature rides and exhibits of mechanical digger vehicles.

The company's promotional literature says children can drive or be given rides in different types of construction machinery.

A notice at the site said the park hoped to reopen on Wednesday.

No-one from the company was available for comment, but it is understood senior officials from the firm's Kent headquarters were travelling to County Durham to aid the investigation

A Durham Police spokesman said: "As part of its normal route the vehicle went down a steep hill, but at the bottom of the 20 metre hill it failed to negotiate a bend.

"It toppled over a drop of several feet into the River Browney, landing on its side in the shallow water.

"The driver escaped unhurt and all his passengers were wearing seatbelts, which ensured no-one received life threatening injuries.

"Officers attended the scene, as did officials from the Health and Safety Executive."