A girl died after she fell into water at a theme park in central England today, emergency services said.

Paramedics and firefighters were called after the 11-year-old was reported to have fallen into the water at the Splash Canyon ride at the family-owned Drayton Manor park in Staffordshire.

The girl, believed to be from Leicester, central England, was airlifted to hospital.

"Unfortunately, shortly after arrival at hospital the girl passed away," an ambulance service spokesman said.

Drayton Manor said it had closed the Splash Canyon ride after the accident.

Last year Merlin Entertainments, the world's second-biggest visitor attractions group behind Walt Disney, pleaded guilty to breaching health and safety laws over a rollercoaster crash at its Alton Towers theme park that seriously injured five people in 2015.

Merlin, which blamed the accident on human error, was fined five million pounds for the crash which led to two victims requiring leg amputations.

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