Bosses at Waterworld have accused emergency services of “over-reaction” after an incident at the leisure park that saw two people taken to hospital and 46 treated at the scene.
More than 100 people were evacuated from the center around 2pm on Wednesday after a “number of visitors” complained of feeling unwell. Emergency services said some people at the attraction in Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent, reported “eye and throat irritation and nausea”.
In a statement released this evening, a Waterworld spokesman said there had been a “huge over-reaction” to the incident. He said: “This has been completely blown out of proportion. The huge over-reaction from emergency services was incredibly distressing for our customers and our staff.
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“We had received a small number of reports from customers about irritation to their eyes and throat, and were dealing with the situation. At no time was there any need for the emergency services to be called.
“Despite stringent tests from our in-house team, and the emergency services using their own specialist equipment, no harmful gases, liquids or other substances of any kind were found in the water, and air samples for chlorine gas levels came back as normal. We will be closing Waterworld tomorrow as a precautionary measure, however, to carry out further tests. The safety and comfort of our guests is always our number one priority.”
Staffordshire Police, Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service, West Midlands Ambulance Service and the Air Ambulance were all called to the scene.
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