Alton Towers owner Merlin Entertainments, where five people were seriously injured in a rollercoaster accident in the summer, said trading at the theme park remains "significantly lower".

The firm - which also owns attractions such as Legoland, Madame Tussauds and the London Eye - said trading in the 47 weeks to November 21 is much lower at Alton Towers than a year ago.

But it added that visitor declines at Alton Towers narrowed in recent weeks after a strong Halloween period.

The firm said, due to strong sales at its Legoland parks and other areas of the business, it was on track to match last year's underlying earnings of between £40 million and £45 million.

The FTSE 100 group said trading in the period remains in line with expectations, while revenue at its Legoland parks "remains strong".

It added that trading at venues such as Madame Tussauds and The London Dungeon, which it calls its midway attractions, also remain at lower levels compared to a year ago, reflecting the strong pound for tourists in relation to the euro.

It said it continued to suffer "challenging markets" in London and Hong Kong, although its other Asian markets delivered strong performances in the period.

Last month Merlin, which runs 110 attractions in 23 countries, said the crash of its Smiler ride at Alton Towers in June was cause by human error as staff misunderstood a shutdown message and wrongly restarted the rollercoaster.

Five people were seriously injured in the crash, which resulted in the 500-acre theme park in Staffordshire being shut down for four days.

Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Keith Bowman said: "While the Alton Towers accident has continued to influence performance, trading has remained in line with management's post-accident expectations.

"On the downside, and outside of Alton Towers, the negative impact of a weaker euro on eurozone visit numbers to the UK and its midway indoor attractions such as Madame Tussauds continues to impact, whilst geopolitical unrest and extreme weather provide ongoing hurdles for the travel and tourist industry in general."