DOVES flew high in the air, water cascaded and fireworks exploded... then Valhalla ground to a halt less than 60 minutes after the £15 million ride had been officially opened by TV star Jonathan Ross (pictured).

The presenter had shattered Odin's symbol with a giant rubber mallet and then, with his theme park crazy wife Jane Goldman, braved the icy waters and roaring fires of the biggest and most spectacular dark ride in the world yesterday without a hitch.

But they were two of the lucky few. About an hour later the ride came to a stop with some people having to be evacuated.

As one of the riders said: "It was quite scary because it came to a halt dangling over a drop.

"It stopped three times all together when I was on and the lights came on inside the ride."

The £4.50-a-time ride closed for a couple of hours as an eager public waited patiently to experience the Viking feeling and Radio One DJ's Mark and Lard presented their afternoon show live from the front of Valhalla. The problem was thought to have been caused by one of the multitude of safety sensors inside the ride.

Because the special effects use real gas to create huge walls of fire the safety system is highly sensitive.

Laser grids can detect if people try to get out of the car and there are even special censors which can tell if the flames are burning up too much oxygen from the area.

This minor set-back comes after 12 years of planning for the £15 million ride and head of PR for Blackpool Pleasure Beach, Sarah Dornford-May, said: "There are often a few teething troubles with such a complex and exciting ride as this, but everything is now running ticketyboo."

The Pleasure Beach also slashed the price of their one day unlimited ride wristbands from £25 to £10 for the day.