Students apologise to Smiler crash victims over rollercoaster outfits

Students who dressed up as a rollercoaster for a charity pub crawl have apologised to victims of the Alton Towers Smiler ride crash.

The group, named 7 Legless, wore the outfits on a night out in Nottingham "complete with fake legs", according to reports.

But Nottingham University denied the costume was a reference to last year's incident in which two teenagers lost a leg.

Victim Joe Pugh was in the front row of the roller coaster with his girlfriend Leah Washington when it ploughed into an empty carriage.

He took to Twitter branding the costume choice "disgusting".

He added: "How awful and disrespectful can people get."

Nottingham University Students' Union apologised to anyone who was offended but insisted the dress-up was not linked to the crash.

It said: "The costume was in no way intended to reference the tragedy that occurred on the Smiler roller coaster at Alton Towers.

"Its design was based on a traditional concept that has existed for several years and no reference was made to the Smiler by the students involved.

"'7 legless' was intended to be a pun on the name of the bar crawl '7 Legged' and the state of being inebriated."

It added: "The students involved further wish to apologise unreservedly to those affected by the Smiler incident for any offence or distress they may have unwittingly caused."