A father accused of racism after stopping a family of ‘queue jumpers’ at Chessington World of Adventures has claimed their excuse of returning after a toilet trip was a lie.
Luke Tickner was patiently waiting with his son to ride Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure at the theme park’s newly opened £15million ‘World of Paw Patrol’ on Sunday.
But he blocked another father and his children from moving in front of him in the queue, when they claimed to have returned to the line after leaving for the toilet.
This prompted a huge row at the site in south-west London as Mr Tickner was seen remonstrating, refusing to let them past and accusing them of ‘playing the race card’.
Another clip showed a woman arguing with the ride attendant at the front, claiming her family members had simply left to use the toilet and were trying to get back in.
Now, Mr Tickner, from Whiteley in Hampshire, has spoken out and claimed that the family accused of queue jumping ‘had never been in the queue – only the mum’.
He told the Daily Mail: ‘They never even went to the loo. The mum queued whilst they had been on other rides and they decided they wanted to push through.
‘He even admitted that they did this the previous day. We contacted staff and security came over to us but by this point they left as they knew they had done wrong.
Luke Tickner (left) accuses a man (right) of trying to get past him in the line for Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure at World of Paw Patrol at Chessington World of Adventures on Sunday
Mr Tickner (left) claims he has been accused of racism, which he vehemently denies. He also tells the man accused of queue jumping: ‘You’re going to be on YouTube tonight’
At the same time a woman is seen arguing with the ride attendant at the front of the queue, claiming her family had simply left the line to go to the toilet and were trying to get back in
‘The staff were happy to review the footage to see if they had queued but because they had not been in the queue, the lady walked off. The mum even pushed my son when he went to show her the “rules”.
‘I was never rude but to the point because I had been called racist and my son pushed by an adult. Not once was this anything to do with queue jumping. The rules in the park are very clear about queue jumping.’
The row was filmed by content creator brothers Ben and Jacob from Eastbourne, who review theme park attractions and post on their ‘Ride Comparisons’ channel.
In the Facebook comments of the video, the man blocking the alleged queue jumper identified himself as Mr Tickner, and posted a photo with a drink in a bar, saying: ‘Well earned after today. Might hire myself out to Merlin.’
The clip filmed at Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure – Britain’s first ‘drifter’ ride – starts with one of the brothers telling the camera: ‘Oh my God guys, there’s loads of queue jumpers here. I think we’re going to have a scrap in Zuma’s Hovercraft ride here.’
The woman at the front then tells the ride attendant: ‘So they came back. Now the person standing there is not letting our kids to enter, to come to us. Can you please have a look because it’s not…’
One of the brothers tells the attendant: ‘They’re trying to queue jump. And they got stopped by somebody.’
And the attendant says: ‘Because if you do leave, you need to let one of us know.’
The woman replies: ‘OK, we didn’t know.’
The attendant then tells her: ‘I can get security to check. We can get security to check. And they’ll check if he’s left here and come back. If so, we’ll do it now.’
But the woman says: ‘No, they went to the toilet and came back.’
The footage then switches to the two men arguing in the line – with Mr Tickner, who is blocking the alleged queue jumper, telling him: ‘You’re calling me a racist, you’re wrong, you’re absolutely wrong.’
One of the brothers says: ‘Oh he’s pulled the race card. Oh no! Oh dear! Haha. Queue jumper fights for Zuma’s Hovercraft was not on my 2026 bingo card!’
The alleged queue jumper says to Mr Tickner: ‘You’re wrong.’
But the man replies to him: ‘You’re wrong too. You’re going to be on YouTube tonight.’
Celebrity Traitors stars Nick Mohammed and Joe Marler try out Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure on Saturday, the day before the official opening of World of Paw Patrol at Chessington
BBC presenter Alex Jones attends the preview day for World of Paw Patrol on Saturday
Dani Dyer with her children Santiago, Summer and Star welcome assistance dogs and their families to a preview of World of Paw Patrol at Chessington on April 27, a week before it opened
Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure at World of Paw Patrol is a ‘drifter’ ride – the first of its kind in the UK which simulates the sliding and spinning sensation of drifting a high-performance vehicle
The alleged queue jumper then says: ‘I don’t care.’ Everyone then laughs.
Mr Tickner continues: ‘I haven’t done anything wrong. You’re the one who’s now pulling the race card. We’re not letting you past, to queue jump. Everyone here is queueing.’
And the alleged queue jumper says: ‘You have a problem.’
One of the brothers concludes: ‘Fair play to this guy, he’s stopped the queue jumper. What a legend. Good on you there.’
Everyone else applauds and gets their cameras out, as one of the brothers adds: ‘Good on him there. There we go guys, don’t queue jump, don’t do it!’
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On the Chessington website, queue jumping is ‘defined as trying to gain access to a ride, attraction or any other element that requires a queue or queue system through non-authorised means’.
These means are listed by the theme park as ‘cutting in front of other guests already in the queue, leaving the queue and then attempting to re-enter at the same place, or saving a place for someone not in the queue’.
The World of Paw Patrol is a new immersive experience for children set across 1.4 acres which includes four new rides, three themed play areas and themed catering inspired by ‘Adventure Bay’ in the show, which follows a boy and his crew of rescue dogs.
Zuma’s Hovercraft Adventure is a ‘drifter’ ride – the first of its kind in the UK which simulates the sliding and spinning sensation of drifting a high-performance vehicle. Five Paw Patrol-themed hotel rooms have also been launched at the park.
Chessington hosted an exclusive preview day on Saturday attended by VIP guests including Celebrity Traitors stars Joe Marler and Nick Mohammed as well as BBC presenter Alex Jones, Made In Chelsea’s Hugo Taylor and Olympian Greg Rutherford.
The theme park is owned by Merlin Entertainments which also operates attractions such as Legoland, Thorpe Park, the London Eye, Sea Life and Alton Towers.
The Daily Mail has contacted Chessington for comment.
Do you know the ‘queue jumpers’? Please email: mark.duell@dailymail.co.uk
