UK’s biggest water ride is FINALLY demolished after girl tragically fell 100ft to her death 20 years ago
A TRAGIC water ride that saw a girl fall 100ft to her death 20 years ago is finally being demolished.
Hayley Williams, 16, tragically fell to her death while riding Hydro at Oakwood Theme Park in Pembrokeshire, Wales, in April 2004.
The ride was closed for a year before reopening with new safety measures, before being later renamed Drenched in 2011.
Owners of the theme park were fined £250,000 over the death of Hayley, a Sunday school teacher, who had been visiting on a family outing.
Now, Drenched is being dismantled for good after Hayley’s heartbroken parents campaigned for better safety standards at parks across the UK.
Horrified guests looked on as the tragedy unfolded at the theme park near Narberth, West Wales, in April 2004.
High Court Judge Justice Lloyd-Jones fined Oakwood Leisure Ltd £250,000 after saying safety breaches at the site had created “the potential for really serious injury to very large number of people.”
Parents Alan and Beverley Williams, of Pontypool, Gwent, have called for tighter regulations at theme parks.
Hayley had been on Hydro several times and was familiar with it before the tragedy.
Mum Beverley said Hayley would have thought she would be safe on the ride.
She added: “You just think they [the rides] are foolproof, the ride was only 18 months old, it cost £1.8m to have it put in.
“These rides are so much more powerful and they are multimillion pound rides that you’re sending you’re children on.
“You’re spending a lot of money to go into these parks, you want to know they are maintained.”
The mum was heartbroken, saying she “never thought anything would happen” to her daughter.
She said: “Never in a million years did I think I was never going to see my child again.
Over-the-shoulder restraints were fitted to the ride when it re-opened, a step-up from the previous seat belt and lap bars that had been in place at the time of Hayley’s death.
A spokesperson for the park said: “We can confirm that after 20-plus years of operation, Drenched has been retired from the Oakwood Theme Park offering and is being dismantled.
“We look forward to sharing other park updates when we commence the build-up to the 2025 season.”
Oakwood was acquired by Spanish international leisure park company Aspro, which rebranded the ride as Drenched in 2011.
Theme park enthusiasts reacted with disappointment to the news.
One person wrote online: “Really sad to see, but not overly surprising.
“As someone who really loves the park and has such nostalgia for it, it’s painful to see the lack of investment from the parent company.”