Alton Towers visitors yet to recover a year after Smiler crash

The owner of Alton Towers has said visitor numbers have not yet fully recovered more than a year after the horrific rollercoaster accident that saw it fined £5m.

Merlin Entertainments (LSE: MERL.L - news) said numbers at the theme park had started to improve but that "absolute visitor volumes still remain some way below the 2014 level".

Chief (Taiwan OTC: 3345.TWO - news) executive Nick Varney reiterated that the company had "learned every lesson from what happened" and made improvements "to ensure that an accident like this cannot happen again".

The accident on the Smiler rollercoaster in June last year saw five people seriously injured, including two teenagers who each lost a leg.

Merlin admitted health and safety breaches over the crash, which resulted in the £5m penalty being handed down at Stafford Crown Court this week .

Judge Michael Chambers said the accident was a "catastrophic failure" by the company involving basic health and safety measures.

In its latest update, Merlin said its resort theme parks - which also include Thorpe Park and Chessington World of Adventures - saw 3% growth in like-for-like revenues for the 38 weeks to 17 September.

But the group warned that security concerns across Europe had hit demand for its London attractions.

Meanwhile, there had been no boost so far from the slump in the pound following the Brexit vote, which makes visiting the UK cheaper for tourists.

Like-for-like revenues fell 0.4% at its "midway" attractions including Madame Tussauds and The Dungeons.

Mr Varney said: "London in particular continues to suppress overall trading performance as we are yet to see any significant benefit from the depreciation of sterling."

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) ended Thursday trading 6% down.