The latest on the Smiler roller coaster crash at Alton Towers

Alton Towers rollercoaster Smiler has reopened, eight months after 20-year-old Vicky Balch lost a leg when it crashed.

Miss Balch described the decision to reopen the ride to the public this weekend as "inappropriate and insensitive".

The owner of Alton Towers is to be prosecuted over crash in which five people were seriously injured, the Health and Safety Executive announced last month.

Today social media users reported "enthusiastic" crowds queued to get a ride on Smiler.

Two people who were seriously injured on the Smiler rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers last year have handed over a cheque to the Midlands Air Ambulance.

Leah Washington and Joe Pugh presented the cheque for more than £8701.10 to the service which helped save their lives after the crash last year.

The couple suffered severe leg injuries in the crash, with Leah having to have a leg amputated.

Three other passengers were also seriously injured.

A woman who lost her leg in the Alton Towers Smiler rollercoaster crash has accused the park of putting money before the people affected by the accident in its decision to reopen the ride tomorrow.

Vicky Balch was one of five passengers seriously injured in the crash on The Smiler last June.

Leah Washington also lost a leg and Joe Pugh, her boyfriend, shattered his knees. Both say they don't want to see the ride operating again. Alton Towers says the accident was caused by human error, and that the Smiler has been certified as safe. Chris Halpin reports.

Alton Towers has confirmed its flagship roller coaster the Smiler will reopen on March 19.

The controversial ride has been closed since the worst accident in the theme park's history, in which 16 people were injured.

Two female passengers had to go through leg amputations after their carriage collided with a stationary car on the same section of track on the ride at the attraction in Staffordshire on June 2nd.

A subsequent investigation by the park found the accident was caused by 'human error'.

Last week the Health & Safety Executive announced it would be prosecuting the owners of the park, Merlin Entertainments, over the accident last June.

Bosses are due to appear at the North Staffordshire Justice Centre in April.

• Read: Alton Towers owner faces prosecution over rollercoaster crash

A student who suffered life-changing injuries in the Alton Towers rollercoaster crash has had her right leg amputated, her lawyers have said.

Ms Balch is the second of the crash victims to lose a limb; Leah Washington had to have her left leg amputated earlier this month.

18-year-old Joe Pugh has been discharged from the Royal Stoke University Hospital after being seriously injured in the crash on the Smiler roller coaster.

Both of Joe's knees were shattered in the crash as the carriage he was sat in crashed with a test vehicle.

He also suffered injuries to his hand.

Joe's girlfriend Leah Washington (17), who was being treated at the same hospital, needed to have a left leg amputated above the knee after as her crash injuries were so severe.

Alton Towers has released interim payments to assist with the rehabilitation of a Barnsley couple who were left seriously injured after a rollercoaster crashed. The Smiler ride has been closed since the incident which saw Leah Washington have to have her leg amputated, with her boyfriend Joe Pugh also suffering serious injuries.