A FAMILY outing to Dreamland fun park at Margate turned into a nightmare when a fairground ride they were on broke and trapped them. A boy of five was thrown out of the car on the Night Rider waltzer and landed on the concrete perimeter. His two-year-old sister and parents were trapped in the upturned vehicle which was then hit by four other cars on the ride.

Thanet magistrates heard today that the family escaped serious injury in what could have been a fatal accident. Fining Dreamland Leisure £12,000 with £1,300 costs, the magistrates heard how the car had been held on with a steel pin, which had been replaced at the end of the previous season.

John Joseph, prosecuting said: "The original faulty pin had been spotted during routine maintenance checks. A replacement pin should have been ordered from the ride's American manufacturer.

"Instead, a ride engineer ordered a pin from a local company that carries out many of the park's minor repairs. What neither the engineer nor the pin's manufacturer realised was that the steel used was not of sufficient quality and would wear out much faster than the proper part."

The park had only been open a day in March 2000 when the accident happened. Christopher Goddard, defending said:" The park management admit they did not use the proper part when repairing this ride. They were not aware that the correct pin was critical to ensure the safety of passengers.

"They have since reviewed their management structure and are confident this will not happen again. All the pins were later replaced with the correct part. The irony is, these parts were cheaper, and arrived faster than the pin which was made locally, so they saved neither time nor money by doing it this way."

The ride, which was built in 1964, has since been removed from the park.