Rollercoaster twins eye another record run

Twin brothers who became well-known among theme park visitors said they are ready to set a new record after riding the UK's highest rollercoaster for the 20,000th time.

Mark and Colin Brown, 63, have been dubbed the "Big One twins" because of their dedication to riding Blackpool Pleasure Beach's iconic Big One which stands 235ft (71m) tall and features a 13ft twist at its highest point.

The brothers, from Birmingham, said they had spent years travelling between Birmingham and Blackpool to ride the attraction, making regular trips every two weeks on the coach and spend about 12 days on the coaster over the years.

"It's not scary when you like it, the ride and park are very good" Colin said.

His brother agreed adding, "the park is good because you have all the rides in one area and don't have to walk far to another ride."

The brothers kept detailed records of every ride and tracked their totals year by year as they worked towards new targets, they've become familiar faces around the theme park.

"People are always stopping us and asking 'can we have a photograph' and [it feels] good," Colin said.

Having celebrated reaching 20,000 rides, they said their next goal was to complete 30,000 journeys on the rollercoaster.

Based on their current pace, they estimated it would take about six years to reach the milestone.

The brothers first rode The Big One in 2001 and said their passion for the attraction had remained unchanged more than two decades later.

"When we first went on it we thought 'let's see how many times we can go on it'," Colin said.

"If you're going to get to a big number, it might as well be on the Big One," Mark joked.

The pair nearly missed their record attempt after high winds forced the ride to shut early on the day they chose - but they had better weather for their return the next day.

The brothers said they felt: "very good, very pleased that we got to that number."

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