Investigation after boy injured in 'incident' at Slip N Slide attraction

A popular slip and slide attraction is being investigated by Somerset Council after a child was injured. The incident occurred on Sunday (June 16) at the Ultimate Slip n Slide attraction at Eastcote Farm in Beckington near Frome.

According to reports on social media, the boy's leg was injured when he came into contact with machinery. An air ambulance landed at the scene, as the boy received medical attention before being taken to hospital.

The attraction remains open during the weekends and will open daily during the Summer holidays. A spokesman stated visitors' safety "is apparent" and has attempted to reach out to the boy's family.

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The attraction was visited by Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey, where he declared the water slide was "great fun, really good fun." He visited the Frome and East Somerset constituency to support Lib Dem candidate Anna Sabine and highlight his party's pledge to improve mental health support for young people.

Somerset Council confirmed they were now aware of the incident following social media reports. A spokeswoman for Somerset Council said: "We can confirm that we are investigating an incident at UltimateSlipnslide. We were made aware of the incident from social media; it has not been formally reported to us. The business is currently only open at weekends, so Somerset Council staff have not yet been able to do any in-depth investigation. "

In response to the widely shared incident, Ultimate Slip n Slide stated they had been operating for two years "with no previous incidents" and its risk assessment had "ensured sensible controls were identified and implemented." A spokesman added there are rules in place for visitors and "sometimes these aren't followed and unfortunately incidents occur."

A spokesman said: "With the number of people who have used, and enjoyed, without incident your safety is apparent. Only when rules were not followed as in this incident has an injury resulted, this is extremely regrettable and has lead us to consider further controls.

"There are many things that have now been made public that we think are incredibly unfair and some parts untrue. We would like to make clear that the incident happened after he had exited the slide and not while sliding.

"Please be reassured that the slide is completely safe when we all follow the rules. We have done everything we can to contact the parents with limited details. We would dearly like them to get in touch with us so we can meet."

Described as "super fast, super high, super long, and super fun", the 95-metre colourful slide is currently open to visitors until September 8. The attraction recommends wearing a wetsuit but also hires this out if needed or visitors can feel free to wear T-shirts and shorts/ leggings.

Eastcote Events, which hosts the attraction, shared online: "We are aware of the incident that took place on 16th June involving a local young boy at the Slip n Slide.

"We wish him and the whole family a speedy recovery, we're saddened to see such an awful accident happen on our site but we can assure you the owners of Ultimate Slip and Slide took every single safety measure necessary, and more, before opening and continue to do so with ongoing risk assessments and updates. Safety is of paramount to them and they are just as devastated this has happened as we are."

A spokesperson for the South Western Ambulance Service NHS Foundation Trust said: “We were called at 12:03hrs on Sunday 16 June to an incident near Frome. We sent an air ambulance to the scene of the incident and conveyed one patient by air ambulance to Royal United Hospitals Bath."