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Sky’s Kay Burley cleared by Ofcom over ‘aggressive’ interview with Alton Towers chief after rollercoaster crash

By Dominic Ponsford

Broadcasting watchdog Ofcom says it will not be launching an investigation into Sky News presenter Kay Burley's interview with the boss of Alton Towers after four people were seriously hurt at the theme park.

It received 1,816 complaints about the interview, including allegations that Burley was too aggressive when she questioned chief executive Nick Varney about safety at the park and the extent of the injuries suffered by the people involved.

An Ofcom spokesman said: "We received a number of complaints about Kay Burley's questioning style during an interview about an accident at Alton Towers. We have carefully assessed whether this interview exceeded generally accepted standards.

"In our view, the interviewee was able to respond fully to the questions and put his position across. As a result, we have not taken the matter forward for investigation."

When Varney declined to reveal whether or not one of the victims of the accident had lost a limb, and expressed his sympathy Burley said in the interview: “Why not? Sir, sir, I’m sure they are not interested in your sympathy at this stage.

“They went to have a fantastic day and they have potentially lost a limb – you won’t tell us if they have or not.”

Varney said: “With all due respect to be telling you stuff like that, that is absolutely personal information to those individuals.”

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