The rollercoaster crash at Alton Towers that seriously injured five people was caused by human error, the theme park has said.

A spokesman for Merlin group, which operates the theme park, said it had come to the conclusion after carrying out an investigation.

Merlin said that, although the park is now closed for its winter break, the ride will reopen at some point in 2016.

A lawyer for at least one of the victims had previously said there was a possibility the ride would never reopen.

16 people were injured on The Smiler ride when the carriage they were in collided with another that had come to a halt on the track on 2nd June.

One of those injured, 17-year-old Leah Washington, from South Yorkshire, had her left leg amputated above the knee as a result of the crash.

A statement from the company today said: "The investigation concluded that the incident was the result of human error culminating in the manual override of the ride safety control system without the appropriate protocols being followed.

"The investigation also identified areas where protocols and the training of employees should be improved. There were found to be no technical or mechanical problems with the ride itself".

The theme park said it has put in place a number of improved safety measures across all its rollercoasters that used more than one carriage to make sure something similar does not happen again.

The statement added: "Alton Towers continues to provide help and support to all of those who were on the ride when the incident happened.

"It has taken full responsibility for the incident and continues to co-operate with the on-going Health and Safety Executive (HSE) investigation.

"We are confident that lessons have been learned and that appropriate action has been taken to address all the issues raised by our investigation and we believe our core conclusions will be in line with the HSE findings."