An 11-year-old girl was left with a bald patch after an arcade machine ripped her hair out while she was bending down to pick up a receipt.

Annabelle Hall was playing on the machines at a Coventry tenpin bowling alley when her hair was torn out by the ticket machine leaving her “extremely traumatised and distressed”, according to her mother Jackie Hall.

She said Annabelle’s hair became caught in the machine while she was cashing in 1,000 prize tokens she had won in a “spinner frenzy”, before it “sucked” her hair in.

After telling staff about the incident, the mum says the pair were only offered a free slushie and a further 1,000 prize tokens as compensation.

Ms Hall is now considering taking legal action against the bowling alley following the accident which took place on October 30 at about 1pm.

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Ms Hall said: “That’s about enough to buy £3 worth of sweets. It did feel a little bit like they were trying to sweep it under the rug. If that was me I’d be mortified – especially in my line of work.

“She was printing off a receipt for the tickets and it fell on the floor. She bent down to pick it up, when suddenly the slot in the machine where tickets are supposed to be put, sucked up a lot of her hair and ripped it off her head.

“It was really vicious and strong – it sucked it straight up. She was crying and I rushed over, when she turned round I could see a bald spot.”

Annabelle added: “I was shocked and worried and in pain, a lot of pain, at the time. It was frightening. I want others to be careful so it doesn’t happen to them.”

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Ms Hall said Annabelle had been “brave” since the incident but could not look at the bald patch.

She added: “She doesn’t really want to talk about it or look at her head and doesn’t want me fiddling about with it. She has been a bit quiet. But I think she just wanted to bawl her eyes out – she’s trying to be strong.”

A spokesperson for the bowling alley said that despite the accident no faults were identified with the machine.

He said: “Tenpin recognises our responsibilities to ensure a safe environment for our customers whilst creating a place to have fun. The machine in question was inspected, no faults were identified and was fully compliant with the manufacturer’s specification.

“We offered a range of complimentary experiences for the family to return and enjoy, which were declined.”

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