A family were left exposed to the elements more than 400ft in the air when strong winds “ripped the hatch” open on their London Eye pod. David Nock, from Bournemouth in Dorset, was on a trip to the capital with his family when Storm Henk swept across the city on Tuesday. They said they expected the London Eye to be the highlight of their trip but their excitement turned to anxiety when a powerful gust tore open the hatch at the top of the ride. Nock, 43, told the PA Media news agency that the Eye began “flexing” on the way up and that it kept stopping as it struggled with the wind. The observation wheel came to a total halt and “wasn’t going anywhere” at the top, he said, leaving him and his family of 11 stuck for five minutes. The IT business owner said: “The wind starting playing hooley and ripped the emergency hatch off the top of the pod with a big crash. Obviously we’re exposed to the elements. It was nerve-racking. “When you’ve got your whole family up there it makes you slightly anxious – you start to question the integrity of the pod itself and what else might go wrong. Our other concern was that, if the hatch detaches, you’ve got a large object 130 metres up flying through the air and it could hit someone. “The whole Eye was flexing at one point and I did wonder whether they were stopping and starting because the wheels that rotate it weren’t getting traction. Equally, on the way down there were stops and starts and then the hatch started crunching and squishing into the mechanism. That’s when I said, right, I’m going to push the emergency button.” A spokesperson for the visitor attraction apologised for the incident saying: “Due to disruption from adverse weather conditions yesterday, we took the decision to close the lastminute.com London Eye for a brief period. The safety of our guests and staff is our number one priority, and we have multiple safety procedures in place on the pods. “Following an isolated technical issue, our expert technical team immediately ensured that guests safely disembarked and conducted further rigorous checks before reopening the attraction that evening. We can confirm that no parts of the pod detached from the main structure and that no guests were injured. We apologise for any inconvenience caused to the guests during their visit.” The London Eye says it is designed to operate safely in almost all weather, and conditions and wind speeds are constantly monitored, although occasionally it may decide to close in the event of high winds or severe weather conditions.