PARENTS are calling for urgent action after children became trapped when bouncy castles suddenly began to deflate during birthday parties at a leisure centre in Malmesbury.
Families say youngsters have been left terrified after various incidents over the last few years at the Activity Zone in Bremilham Road, which is run by Wiltshire Council.
The latest incident happened on Saturday, January 10 when an inflatable castle suddenly began deflating around 15 minutes into a fifth birthday party, leaving some children trapped.
Mum Ashleigh's five-year-old daughter was among those who became stuck.
“I noticed the top of the bouncy castle had started deflating and I signalled to my daughter to get out,” she said.
“Before you knew it, the castle was coming down quite quickly.
“There were about four or five children stuck in the staircase of the castle, my daughter being on top of it all but in there too.”
Ashleigh said a member of staff hooked the structure up to an air blower and the castle reinflated.
“We were grabbing the children and pulling them out,” she said.
“They were sobbing and my daughter was beside herself.
“She said her neck felt funny and she’d hurt her back.
“There was one child in particular who just flat-out refused to participate in the rest of the party.
“I think she didn’t want to go back on the bouncy castle because of what had just happened.
“My daughter woke up in the night and was sobbing her heart out.
“The next morning, she said she had had a nightmare.”
Soon afterwards Ashleigh contacted Wiltshire Council and the Activity Zone to raise her concerns and to ask for a health and safety investigation.
Posting online, another parent said: “We were at a party two weeks ago and the same thing happened three times.”
Another parent said their child went to a party at the Activity Zone a few years ago and experienced the same issue.
“It was very frightening,” they said.
When contacted by the Standard, Wiltshire Council said the safety of children and families ‘is of utmost importance’ to the authority, adding that an investigation was underway.
Commenting on the January 10 incident, cabinet member for communities, engagement and corporate services at Wiltshire Council Mel Jacob said: “We are very sorry to hear about this incident and the distress it has caused.
“The safety of children and families who use this service is of utmost importance to us.
“We are carrying out a thorough investigation to understand exactly what happened.”
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