The Bournemouth Balloon, formerly known as the Bournemouth Eye, enjoys a prime location in Bournemouth Gardens in the centre of the town. Passengers can expect panoramic views for miles around (on a clear day). For about a tenner, they can witness this allegedly breathtaking experience and it's generally considered one of the stellar attractions in the town.
Late on Thursday afternoon, a group of passengers boarded the tethered balloon, no doubt looking forward to the aforementioned experience. Having had the standard fifteen minute ride, they probably didn't bargain on being stuck up in the air for a total of two hours.
An electrical fault was cited as the cause of the elongated ride. Staff had to frantically work to fix the problem and get the passengers down to earth in clear but chilly conditions. Foreign language student Andreina Martinez was one of the party left hanging and she said, “It was getting cold.”
University student Mishaal Albuaynin chose to eschew his fellow passenger's brevity, preferring to elaborate. He told reporters, “I’ve been in Bournemouth for two years. That was my first and last time in the balloon.”
Despite the unfortunate nature of this incident, let's not get carried away. Whatever individual thoughts are on the worthiness of the Balloon experience, it's probably best to avoid the Echo auto-responder list of comments.
'Typical Bournemouth, what a mess' would perhaps fall into this category. The most imaginative so far appears to be "Real ballooning is much better, rather than this toy thing in Bournemouth gardens." (sic). This comes from the aptly named 'likestocomplain', maybe a satirical nod towards the usual standard of Echo reader responses.
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