Are Fright Nights Safe?

[TPP]

From my first visits to fright nights this year and discussions with employees the normal level of security has been decreased around the mazes and particullary the rear of the park. ( Monks Walk ) Now dont get me wrong from literally 100's of visits over the years I'm not saying that we all risk death! lol but the invasion of the chavs and rude boys that we always see to increase this time of the year ultimatly will ruin things for those true customers like ourselves! I saw no visible security like in previous years ( normally blokes in black jackets etc ) around the entrances of the mazes, just 17 year old girls in high viz! Now what on earth could they do if / when it all goes wrong?! I mean we have all seen problems over the years with q jumpers and even fights inside the mazes! But normally there is a sense of security in the fact that there are ppl ( not 17 year old girls ) able to throw these idiots out and to also protect the actors. One actor has told me of the concern that there is no longer security on the mazes, also apparently there are no longer dog patrols on the road at the back of the park. WHY???! Any tom idiot or harry could get in there with all kinds of weapons etc! I really hope the Park management have not made a serious era in judgement!!

Edited October 17, 2012 by IanNem
Renamed Question

[TPP]

Private Hire is for the police to make money for example a security host would be on say £6 an hour but a police officer would be on £30 easily the Park will be paying Surrey police about £35 - £40 an hour add that up compared to a private security firm / in house operation. Of corse they have a duty of care security wise - risk assessments etc need to be carried out and security will be high on that. The event security at least gave actors / ents staff the impression they were protected. I am fighting the corner of the staff members I know. That's all

[Mark9]

You're also going round in circles with the discussion. At first it was about guests safety, but now you're talking about from staff members safety which is something we literally have no control over. Us boycotting the park on grounds of healthy and safety isn't going to stop the 'trouble makers' coming. No one from TPM is going to go to Thorpe and start fights in mazes or queue lines.

I love this idea that rides staff have no idea what they are doing though, it's not like they maintain the safety of thousands of people everyday is it.

[Bobo91]

A security host has said he is not happy with what's going on this year. That's good Anough for me. Bring back the tall guy who was in charge but not seen him this year yet... He was quality dealt with the pikeys really well. I just hope my bf don't have ppl q Jump on him when we go next weekend. He and his mates are not the kind to deal lightly with idiots like that. Thorpe seems to be too full of yes men that sit around in the offices and don't actually go out on the park and experience the issues that security / staff and public experience.

That attitude is what starts fights...

Now your banging on about Duty of Care and all, now from my experience with law by providing adequate security Thorpe are fulfilling their Duty of Care. Now who decides what the word adequate means? That would be the park drawing on previous years research and saying ''right on these weekdays we have x amount of security and on weekends we have x amount'' You cannot sit here and possibly try and say they are failing their Duty of Care as if they were, they would have been stopped by now even as its only been a few days.

To be guilty of omission through Duty of Care Thorpe will have had to be having a proper 'we don't care' attitude and not be providing security at all. You are blowing this out of proportion, if you would like to complain more feel free to tell the park as they will say what we all have been saying...

[Mad Coaster Man]

Not to start a conspiracy but I have a feeling that TTP and Chaz are the same person...

[Fred]

There is literally nothing wrong with the park security arrangements. They'll have put months of planning into this and meetings etc, and they could've realised they've overstaffed security in recent years creating the wrong atmosphere on park.

Thorpe is fine, merlin is fine, tussauds were awful. Stop hating for hating sake, seriously. It gets boring and irritating.

[BigBobJones]

Your all really selling this.... so if I want to go and pay my extra £5 to get in, I can expect to not get a parking space, for it to be over capacity and the only way to get on anything is to fast track, should I go back in 2013 when everyone will flood to SW7 and Zufari?

[pluk]

Private Hire is for the police to make money for example a security host would be on say £6 an hour but a police officer would be on £30 easily the Park will be paying Surrey police about £35 - £40 an hour add that up compared to a private security firm / in house operation.

I'm afraid you are entering the world of fantasy now. Security guards are not on less than minimum wage and police constables do not earn even near that an hour. Police do not 'make money' out of large scale public order events, but when an event is for a profit making private company they do of course recoup their costs of planned assistance, not to do so would in effect mean the taxpayer paying for a private firms profit margins which would clearly wrong.

Although I have no involvement Thorpe Park or Surrey Police I have a good working knowledge of the planning and policing of events. I can assure you the security plans put in place for the whole season and Fright Nights in particular will have been completed with the police, agreeing the proposed levels are safe and sufficient for the predicted size of the crowd and any specific intelligence. If the police were not happy with the plans and things started to go wrong Thorpe would very quickly be losing their liquor licence and operations licence from the council and probably their ability to insure themselves. This is not something they would risk.

Should things go wrong police turn up and deal with it free of charge, thats what police do. They are not going to stand at the gate while either staff or public get their heads kicked in waiting for Thorpe to pay them. I doesn't matter where it happens, police will turn up if you call them. There would of course then be a review of the security levels for the rest of the event (and the next one) with amendments agreed if necessary.

I'm really not to sure what you are getting at in general, but this seems to be heading quickly towards some sort of groundless scaremongering.

[Tom]

This was funny at first, but I can only feed off people's stupidity for some time! Can we leave this deluded person alone now and move on?

[Ricky]

On a side note, If an actor feels threatened in any situation they have an E-Stop, this will be pushed with Security being called within the minute. As is the same on any Ride & Attraction at the park, if the situation feels heated they would call for security to attend. The park is safe, I don't know WHY any of you would think any different.

[Benin]

What's the betting that there will be more scuffles/fights at the Crystal Palace vs Millwall footie match this Saturday in comparison to Thorpe?

Yeah, there is nothing to worry about, unsurprisingly, the parks DO know what they are doing for the most part...

[TPP]

Actors welfare is paramount I think alot of you pay lip service to TP and its management. Face it they have mucked up... And sorry but private hire I know lots about they are there as a presence that is it. it says summit when even security hosts are worried sick.

[Benin]

I'd LOVE to see some actual proof to this, because, erm, HAVE they mucked up? Or are you just making crap up to fit your poorly constructed arguement?

[Marc]

Actors welfare is paramount I think alot of you pay lip service to TP and its management. Face it they have mucked up... And sorry but private hire I know lots about they are there as a presence that is it. it says summit when even security hosts are worried sick.

How on earth can you say they have mucked up after just 3 Fright nights? Maybe we should wait till the end of the event, if it all goes wrong then ok, if theres no more than the normal then I think its safe to say they havent mucked up

[Mark9]

Actors welfare is paramount I think alot of you pay lip service to TP and its management.

You couldn't be further from the truth.

[Dodge2002]

You know events like this aren't even legal without a certain ratio of security guards to guests. And seeing as they have to always assume the park will be at capacity, which it rarely is, there will always be more than the law requires.

[spurs-fan94]

I havn't read much of the thread but all I can say is that fright nights must be safe. Merlin is a multinational company and all events must comply with the countries health and safety requirements.

[Sidders]

Lol at this thread. Just gonna ask TPP if she really thinks Merlin doesn't have a clue here... Because they do.

[Mad Coaster Man]

I honestly don't know what to say to this. Why don't we give up and close the thread. TPP seems paramount on not believing a word that we say.