West Midlands twins set British record - riding UK's tallest roller coaster 20,000 times

Delighted twin brothers have set a British record - by riding on the UK's tallest rollercoaster 20,000 times.

Mark and Colin Brown, 63, first rode the Big One - an enormous 213 feet (65m) tall theme park ride - in Blackpool, Lancs., on May 6, 2001.

And now 25 years later, they have successfully dropped over the edge and carted around the 5,497 foot (1,675 meters) long track more times than anyone else.

The brothers believe they hold the record for the most total rides on a single roller coaster in the UK.

The theme park mad duo say they are proud of their achievement, adding that even after all this time it hasn't "lost its thrill".

Colin, from Birmingham., said: "We started in 2001 and the numbers have just built up from there.

"Whenever we're on holiday for a fortnight in Blackpool, we go to the park every day.

"We've now been to Blackpool Pleasure Beach 1,354 times.

"We just go on the ride over and over again, otherwise we wouldn't have got that number up to where it is.

"It depends on the queues, but the most we've ever been on the ride in one day is 70 times."

When asked how the mission came about, he said: "We decided to start small, but when the number started going up, we thought - how many times can we actually go on it?"

Colin added: "It's a high and fast rollercoaster, which is what we like. We prefer the more traditional rollercoasters to the swinging ones.

"Some people are scared of it, but we can't be - we've been on it so many times!

"We're going to carry on going on it - and maybe we will get to 30,000."

Amanda Thompson OBE, CEO of Pleasure Beach Resort: "I want to extend a huge congratulations to Mark and Colin on an unprecedented achievement.

"En-route to reaching this milestone, they've become so well-liked and welcomed by both staff and guests alike at the park. A true fan favourite.

"A big well done to them, here's to 20,000 more."

The Big One was opened to the public on May 28, 1994 as the tallest roller coaster in the world until two years later Fujiyama which reached 259 feet (79m) was erected in Japan in 1996.

A full ride cycle on the Big One lasts approximately three minutes.

Records show that the highest known record for total rides on a single roller coaster is more than 25,000 lifetime rides on the Renegade coaster at Valleyfair in Shakopee, Minnesota , set by an enthusiast called Mike Cameron, also known as 'Renegade Mike'.