Katherine Ryan slams theme park over their treatment of two-year-old son Fred
Comedian Katherine Ryan was not laughing after she took her two-year-old son to Diggerland theme park - in fact, she was left infuriated for the way a member of staff reacted to the young boy.
The mum-of-three celebrated the early May bank holiday yesterday (1 May) by going to the theme park with her children and partner, Bobby Kootstra.
There are three Diggerland theme parks in England, each one acting like a huge, oversized sandpit as it allows both kids and adults to ride, drive and operate real diggers and other construction machinery.
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As diggers are the thing that Katherine's two-year-old Fred 'cares about most in the world', the family queued up for one of the rides so the youngster could ride and drive one of the machines.
Katherine said they waited for 25 minutes, but when they got to the front of the line, they were apparently turned away by an employee who told her that Fred couldn't go on the ride.
The comedian took to Instagram to express her frustration over the situation, saying: "It takes a unique skill-set that I admire to do a job like that. To be able to look at a two-year-old who has just queued for 25 minutes and be like 'no'.
"And then [I'm] like, 'look, he's like definitely tall enough' but she's like 'no'.
"Diggers are the thing he cares about most in the world and he was queuing up because he wanted to go on a ride and drive one, and she just said 'no'."
Katherine shared the video alongside the caption: "Fred wasn't allowed on this ride after queuing ages lol ok."
Katherine made clear that Fred's height shouldn't have been a problem as she later shared another snap to show the youngster standing against the 90cm limit board, proving he met the required measurements.
The comedian admitted that the employee had to take 'health and safety' into account, but she and her daughter Violet seemed to be on the same page as they both mimicked Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman by saying: "Big mistake, huge."
A representative for Diggerland told Tyla that customer safety is 'of the highest priority' at Diggerland, and as such 'all guests are measured for each ride prior to being allowed on, including children'.
"Our Park Marshal was quite rightly trying to measure the child using the measuring pole," the representative said.
"When children are on the borderline, as was the case in this instance, the measuring pole must be used as a more accurate measuring tool.
"Had Katherine Ryan and her family spoken with a manager on the day of their visit, this incident would have been rectified as best as possible, in a very prompt manner. We are very sad to have learnt the news of Katherine's disappointment via social media.
"We have reached out to Katherine Ryan, messaging her personally via her Instagram channel in response to her visit. We have also offered Katherine a complimentary return visit, so that her family can enjoy a day at Diggerland to its fullest."
According to the rep, the comedian has since responded to the park to thank them for reaching out and stated, "We had a great time otherwise thanks."
The family's trip to Diggerland came after Katherine welcomed her second child with husband Bobby in December, when they announced the arrival of daughter Fenna Grace.
She shares her older daughter, Violet, with a previous partner.
Emily Brown