A MUM has complained to fairground owners after a ride operator refused to stop a child’s carousel even though her son was distressed and screaming.

Sarah Gooding said her three-year-old son Ryan became anxious and started crying soon after the car and motorbike roundabout ride started.

She immediately asked the operator to stop the attraction – part of the fairground rides at Felixstowe’s fireworks spectacular – but was told no.

Miss Gooding, 30, of Sudbury Road, Felixstowe, said: “He was really upset – crying and screaming and trying to get off the ride – and I was becoming upset, too, because it is horrible to see your child going through that.

“I kept asking the operator to please stop the ride so I could take Ryan off but she wouldn’t. He was beside himself with fear. Our whole evening was spoiled.”

Chris Daynes, commercial officer for Felixstowe and Walton United, which organised the fireworks display at its ground in Dellwood Avenue, said the rides were the responsibility of the operators.

He said: “We are distraught at what happened and will be talking to the operators.”

Stan Harris, who co-ordinated the fairground for the evening, said a ride operator faced a difficult decision when a child became upset.

“In an emergency, the ride would be stopped immediately,” he said.