Recent research by a Middlesex University professor has found that water slides can lead to more injuries than contact sports such as football and rugby.

A collision which caused a teenager to break his arm led Professor David Bull, based at the School of Health, Biological and Environmental Sciences in Highgate, to embark on research into the leisure activity.

More than 300 water slides exist in the UK alone and many operate on a traffic light system which manufacturers claim prevents accidents.

But when the professor of risk management observed the same slide for 250 descents, he found this was not the case. Anyone taking more than 20 seconds was at great risk of being hit from behind. In the medical journal Injury Prevention Prof Bull claimed many of the slides were "inherently unsafe".

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