Water park closed after children suffer ‘severe diarrhoea and projectile vomiting’
A FAMILY-FRIENDLY theme park has closed its water activity area after children became “violently sick” after visiting the Leicestershire attraction.
Twinlakes family theme park promises ‘never-ending fun’
Twinlakes in Melton Mowbray has shut its splash zone while Public Health England (PHE) carries out an investigation, after multiple parents reported their children had suffered from vomiting and diarrhoea. Lucy Marriott brought her 12-year-old daughter and seven-year-old son to the site on Wednesday as part of a school trip, She told BBC News both children became “violently sick” two days later, and her son was “doubled over in pain”.
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Kim Rawlings wrote on social media: “I’d really like to know why my two children were so poorly.
“I’ve never had a problem before with the park but since coming Wednesday, then seeing my children poorly, it definitely makes you rethink about going back.”
And mum Kelly Quinn said her eight-year-old son and 10-year-old daughter suffered bouts of “severe diarrhoea and projectile vomiting” following their visit to the park on Wednesday.
In a statement, Twinlakes said: “We regret that the Au Guang Dragon Zone water park is temporarily closed. We apologise for any inconvenience or disappointment this may cause.
“As soon as we heard reports that some visitors have become ill following their visit to the water park we took the decision to close it as a precautionary measure.
“We are working closely with the Health and Safety Executive to investigate and hope to be able to provide information about the re-opening of the Au Guang Dragon water park very soon.”
It said the rest of the theme park remains open, with only the water section shut to enable investigators to do their job.
Gemma Dyer said after brining her three-year-old son to the water park on Friday he “spent all of Saturday night up being sick and this has continued into this morning”.
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She said: “This outbreak has been a huge disruption to a lot of parents.”
Another parent named Rebecca wrote on Twitter: “Took my children there a couple weeks ago. They were playing in the water area for a few hours and that evening into the night they were up vomiting and had diarrhoea.
“I assumed they had maybe been in the sun too long, but perhaps not after seeing this.”
Melton Borough Council, PHE East Midlands and the Health and Safety Executive are working with Twinlakes to investigate reports of illnesses.
Dr Vanessa MacGregor, consultant of communicable disease control at Public Health England said: “Gastroenteritis (diarrhoea and vomiting) is an unpleasant illness but most people usually make a complete recovery without any specific treatment other than rest and drinking lots of fluids to avoid dehydration.
“There is no specific treatment for diarrhoea and vomiting so the public can help limit the spread of infection by staying away from their GP practice or hospital if they are feeling unwell.
“If diarrhoea and vomiting does become very severe and persistent however, then we advise you to telephone NHS 111 or your GP.”
