Holiday rentals news - Alton Towers bans high heels for children

Alton Towers bans high heels for children

Alton Towers is to ban children from wearing high heels. The measure is intended to stop children cheating the height restrictions on the theme park's rides.

Families taking UK holidays this half term should be aware that the ban on tall shoes will come into force tomorrow. As well as staff carefully checking children's footwear, Alton Towers is also said to be looking at buying shoe x-ray scanners similar to those used in airports, according to The Guardian.

For health and safety reasons, anyone going on the Staffordshire theme park's white knuckle rollercoasters must be at least 1.4m tall, 1.2m for some rides. However, children who don't meet the height requirements and are eager to go on the rides often wear shoes with chunky soles to make them taller.

Alton Towers reopened for 2009 in March and children have already attempted to trick their way onto the rides - one boy taped a pair of flip flops to his trainers and a young girl appeared to be wearing her mother's high heel shoes. "While this ban may appear extreme, we are confident it will reduce the number of desperate attempts to gain a centimetre or two," said Morwenna Angove, sales and marketing director at Alton Towers.

The height restrictions are in place to ensure the safety of the rides' passengers. The seats, harnesses and safety belts on the rollercoasters are designed for adults and larger bodies.

This story was brought to you by holidaylettings.co.uk, the UK's No.1 for holiday homes worldwide.

Related Stories
Kidzania - a theme park run by children
Siam Park, world's largest water park, to open in Tenerife
Print this article