
Perched 205ft high atop one of Europe's fastest rollercoasters, this is not your everyday cleaning job.

Maintenance engineers dangled from the terrifying height as they carried out cleaning and services duties on Thorpe Park Resort's ride Stealth, ahead of the park's reopening tomorrow.

To celebrate the 200th anniversary of the rollercoaster, they sported party hats on top of their helmets and held aloft champagne flutes as they tucked into a birthday cake at the dizzying top of the ride.

The first rollercoaster with wheeled vehicles on tracks was the Les Montagnes Russes à Belleville in Paris.

Maintenance engineers on the 200th anniversary of the rollercoaster perform cleaning and service duties 205ft atop of Thorpe Park Resort's ride Stealth, ahead of the park's reopening tomorrow

The engineers meticulously checked and cleaned the heart-pounding thriller, which is one of Europe's fastest rides

Using harnesses and ropes to scale the rides, the workers methodically checked every section of track - even at the very top.

Stealth is one of Europe's fastest rides with a max speed of over 80mph.

It can go 0-80mph to 205ft in under two seconds with the same brake horse power of two Formula 1 cars.

Thorpe Park was built in 1979 on the site of a former gravel pit which was partially flooded, creating a water-based theme for the park.

The theme park's first large rollercoaster, Colossus, was built in 2002.

It attracts about 1.9million visitors a year and is the 10th most visited theme park in Europe.

Dominic Jones, divisional director at Thorpe Park, said: 'The first rollercoaster 200 years ago was very different from the rides we see today. From guide rails and low speeds we’ve seen the rollercoaster progress and continue to defy adrenaline junkie’s dreams, with vertical loops, higher speeds and explosive drops.

'As the nation’s destination for thriller-seekers, we continue to strive to offer guests the rollercoaster experiences in a safe and fun environment, which has seen the development of the UK’s first winged-rollercoaster ‘The Swarm’ and the world’s first horror movie themed rollercoaster ‘Saw – The Ride’.'