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Thrill-seekers on the Smiler rollercoaster at Alton Towers were left stranded in mid-air today after the ride was dramatically stopped.

The theme park says it stopped the white-knuckle ride after reports that a piece of debris had fallen from a carriage.

Dramatic pictures showed 32 people stuck mid-air on the ride with their backs to the ground.

It comes after 16 people were hurt after a horrifying accident on the same ride last year.

Eyewitness Liam Dennett was with his family from Cheltenham who were queuing for the Smiler ride when "everything just stopped."

(Image: Facebook)

He told Mirror Online: "The queue came to stop as we were trying to get on.

"Someone came over the tannoy to say it they were experiencing a 'technical issue' but the wait just went on and on.

"We walked away and could two cars stuck, one which was vertical with the people facing up.

"They'd be up there for about 30 minutes when we left.

"People's hats and shoes were falling off and it was really hot and you could see they were in a lot of discomfort and pretty scared.

(Image: @_mastershifu/Twitter)

"We saw men in hard hats trying to reach them and I know they were trying to get water up there to those stuck.

"I also heard they may have to get rescue crews in, but I don't know what the protocol is on that. We're just on our way back there now."

Workers helped to bring those trapped down from the ride and it was then evacutated.

Writing on Facebook, Hilary Semmens said: “My son in law had to be harnessed off, thanks goodness my grandchildren didn’t go on.”

Lisa King wrote on Twitter: "My cousin is at Alton Towers and just said people are stuck on The Smiler as it's come to a stop! Not liking the big drop behind them!"

Another person tweeted saying people had been trapped for at least half an hour.

Writing on Twitter, the witness said: "People stuck on the Smiler at Alton Towers waiting to be rescued. Been there 30mins."

A spokesman for Alton Towers said: "On Thursday 1st September, Alton Towers Resort stopped The Smiler to investigate claims a piece of debris that had fallen from a carriage.

"At no time were guests on the ride at any risk and all were safely removed from the ride promptly by staff in line with our comprehensive standard procedures.

"As the health and safety of our guests is our priority, the ride will remain closed whilst the Resort’s technical team investigate the matter.”

A horror accident took place on the rollercoaster in June 2015, leaving a number of passengers seriously injured.

A total of 16 were hurt in the calamity on the £18million Smiler ride at the famous Staffordshire theme park in June last year.

Frantic medics were forced to battle several feet in the air for hours to save the lives of people onboard.

Joe Pugh, 19, and his girlfriend Leah Washington, 18 were badly injured along with Vicky Balch.

Leah and Joe had been going out for just four days at the time of the crash – and Joe couldn’t wait to take Leah to the park.

The pair were sitting at the front of their roller coaster carriage when it rammed into a stationary car at 50mph.