Smiler riders left stuck in mid-air at Alton Towers

• Video report by ITV News reporter Peter Smith

Thrill-seekers were stranded on the Smiler ride at Alton Towers Resort in Staffordshire on Thursday morning.

The £18m rollercoaster previously crashed in June 2015, seriously injuring five people.

A spokeswoman said there were 32 people on the ride when the "temporary stoppage" happened but no-one was injured.

Pictures and videos posted on social media appeared to show people stuck in mid-air.

Liam Dennett, from Cheltenham, filmed a video of people stuck on the ride, and said they had been there for at least 30 minutes.

Thomas Russell and Elliott Gibbons were on the ride and told ITV News when their carriage stopped at first they thought it was part of the ride.

"It slowly stopped and came to a bit of a halt at the top but I thought it was natural…as a lot of rides they stop at the top just to put fear into you, " Thomas said.

"But after about the first minute I realised it weren’t part of the ride."

The friends also described the discomfort of being suspended in mid-air.

"There was a bit of an angle so all of your body weight was resting on your shoulders, after a time it really starts to hurt. It was painful," Thomas said.

Elliott added: "We were trying to look around to see what was happening but after a while it was hurting our necks."

It comes after Leah Washington and Vicky Balch both had to have a leg amputated following the crash.

Leah's boyfriend Joe Pugh was left with life-changing injuries after both his kneecaps were shattered, while Vicky's partner Daniel Thorpe, and Chandaben Chauhan, were also seriously injured.

An investigation found that a computer block had stopped the ride because of a stationary car on the track had been over-ridden by staff, causing the crash.

Merlin Attractions Operations Ltd subsequently admitted a breach of health and safety rules over the incident.

The rollercoaster re-opened in March.