Closed trampoline park Ryze set to reopen By Angie Brown

BBC Scotland, Edinburgh and East reporter Published duration 1 April 2015

A trampoline park which has been closed for almost six weeks after it was found to be operating without a licence is to reopen.

Ryze in Dalkeith is due to open its doors again on Thursday at 10:00.

More than 100 incidents were reported at the 10,000 sq ft trampoline park in the three weeks after it was launched on 23 January.

Midlothian Council had served an improvement notice on its operators to address "public safety concerns".

Ryze said at the time that it had agreed to suspend trading until the licensing issues were resolved.

The company also stressed that its accident figures were "better than the industry norm" and that the incident rate represented only 0.39% of the 25,662 jumpers over the three-week period.

The reports of injuries at the centre had included a broken neck, back and other bones.

'First aid'

A spokesman for Midlothian Council said: "Ryze Edinburgh had an application for an indoor sports entertainment licence which I can confirm has now been determined and the appropriate licence granted.

"In addition to the standard conditions that apply to all Civic Government Scotland licences, additional specific conditions have been imposed. Ryze has co-operated fully with the council.

"It must be stressed that while the aim of the conditions is to regulate safety, this can only be delivered through good management of the facility and by the patrons acting responsibly."

The additional licence conditions imposed by the council include:

The maximum number of people permitted to use the trampoline and associated activity facilities at any one time shall be 125.

At all times that the facilities are open to users, the licence holder shall ensure that sufficient numbers of appropriately trained staff are present to supervise the safety of users. Appropriate means trained by a British Gymnastics Association coach or other person of equivalent qualification or experience.

At least one person trained by a recognised first aid organisation is to be present on the premises at all time that it is open to customers and visitors.

Scott Fairgrieve, of Ryze Edinburgh, said: "During our temporary closure we co-operated fully with the authorities and reviewed our operating processes, health and safety procedures and first aid policies to further enhance the experience of our customers.

"Our first aid policies already exceeded legal guidelines, but we decided to increase our provision and all members of staff now get first aid trained.

"We also took the opportunity to make improvements to our toilet areas and parking provision to meet the demand of the high customer numbers we have experienced."

Ryze has also decided to create a dedicated "kiddy court" for children under six, with a foam pit and two 45-degree rectangular trampolines.