A MOTHER has spoken of her horror as she watched her daughter plunge into a shallow stream after an accident at a popular North-East visitor attraction.

Janine Knight, and her daughter, Rachel, aged ten, were among 18 people involved in a crash at Diggerland, in Langley Park, near Durham.

The party was enjoying a ride in an articulated vehicle, driven by an 18-year-old worker, when it slid down a steep, 20-metre hill into the River Browney.

The group were wearing seatbelts and protected by a roll cage, but some suffered injuries when the trailer keeled over in the water.

Ms Knight, 34, of Sunderland and her daughter were taken to the attraction by her boyfriend, Dirk Schaffrath, as a birthday treat.

She said: "We thought the ride was a bit rough, but thought that was part of the attraction.

"The next thing we knew, it went down a hill and toppled into the river.

"It was horrendous. Rachel was face down in the water and I was suspended from a height. Rachel started to scream. Dirk got her out before I got out of the vehicle. There were people climbing over each other to get out."

Ms Knight was kept in the University Hospital of North Durham overnight suffering from three broken ribs.

Twelve people, including Rachel, suffered minor injuries in the accident on Tuesday afternoon.

She said: "I was really scared and I didn't know what was happening."

As well as rescuing Rachel, Mr Schaffrath carried a six-year-old boy to safety.

He said: "Panic broke out. There was literally people and blood all over the place.

"I carried one little boy all the way out. Blood was all over his face it was horrible."

The boy, who fractured his foot, remained in hospital last night, where his condition was said to be stable.

Yesterday, two inspectors from the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) arrived at Diggerland to test the Super Track vehicle involved in the accident.

The area where the accident occurred was cordoned off, but the rest of the park was open for business.

Mick Coleman, operations director at the HE Group, which owns the site, was also at the unusually quiet attraction.

Frequent visitor Tracey Crosby returned to Diggerland yesterday with her children Sam, Ben and Tom.

She said: "We have been times before when the cars are parking right down the road.

"It was deserted compared to normal."

The HSE inspectors have issued prohibition notices on two tractor vehicles at the site and the company has also withdrawn the Super Track ride from its other two parks in Devon and Kent.

Sandy Digby, the company's public relations and marketing manager, said: "We are obviously devastated that this accident happened and very much regret this unfortunate incident.

"This has affected us all. We are in the business of helping people enjoy themselves and are very upset by this.

"We are confident that all of our rides are 100 per cent safe and we believe this was just an unfortunate accident."