Coroner calls for action to prevent more deaths like Ava May Littleboy's

The coroner investigating the death of a toddler thrown from an inflatable seaside trampoline has warned safety procedures must be improved to prevent further tragedies.

Ava May Littleboy was just three years old when she was killed after playing at the funfair on Gorleston beach in July 2018.

She suffered a head injury when the trampoline exploded, throwing her into the air. She later died at the James Paget Hospital.

Ava May Littleboy was just three years old when she died Credit: Family photo

An inquest into her death in March 2020 found the funfair ride had been inspected by an independent company just four days before the accident - and was found to be unsafe to use.

But because the trampoline was not registered with an official testing scheme, no record was made of those concerns - and no action taken to stop it being used.

Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake has written to the British Standards Institution - which aims to protect consumers by establishing recognised standards in engineering - to ask it to take action.

"During the course of the inquest, the evidence revealed matters giving rise to concern. In my opinion, there is a risk that future deaths will occur unless action is taken," it says.

The coroner's report points out that the operator - Johnson's Funfair Ltd - had failed to obtain an instruction manual for the trampoline when it was bought in 2017 and did not have an up-to-date risk assessment in place at the time of Ava May Littleboy's death.

Police guard the scene at Gorleston beach on July 1 2018 Credit: Press Association

But her biggest concerns relate to the inspection process that the operators were required to carry out.

Ms Lake said an inspection on June 26 2018 by an independent company had highlighted a lack of paperwork and that "not all the tie downs were being used".

She said, had the trampoline been registered with an official testing scheme - like the Amusement Device Inspection Procedures Scheme (ADIPS) - that would have resulted in a "Category A" defect being recorded meaning "the device is considered as being of imminent danger to persons and that the device should not be used".

The British Standards Institute has 56 days to respond to Ms Lake's report - explaining what action it proposes should be taken and a timetable for that action.