'We live next to a giant rollercoaster that towers over our homes'

When Ronan Keating said ‘life is a rollercoaster,’ he probably didn’t mean it quite as literally as this.

For residents on one new-build estate, they are, in fact, living within a stone’s throw of a rollercoaster, which towers above the properties.

The huge, 50ft-high ride has divided opinion among the neighbours, as while some have branded it an ‘eyesore’, others have declared they ‘love it’.

Locals in Sandford Lane, Hucknall, Nottingham, have had the unfinished theme park ride looming over their homes for the past 18 months.

It’s being tested by Mellors Group, a Nottinghamshire-based company that builds and tests rides for worldwide buyers, meaning residents often see carts whizzing around the track.

Dad-of-six Jack Welsh, 45, moved into his home almost two years ago and can see the amusement park structure from his living room.

Jack, who runs a tattoo shop with wife Kirsty, has insisted he’s ‘actually not bothered by it’, and the rollercoaster has provided endless entertainment for their eight-year-old daughter, Sapphire.

‘It’s been a pleasure to watch it grow over the months,’ he said.

‘There was a ride there beforehand, but it wasn’t on the scale of this one; this one is massive.’

He explained that, once the testing process is complete, the rides are ‘sent on their way to wherever buys them’, arguing he’d sooner have that than ‘a block of flats with antisocial behaviour’.

‘It’s tall. It’s a monster at probably 50ft. But luckily our little girl loves rides, because she loves Alton Towers.

‘She loves to watch it, especially when there are people up there.’

Kirsty, 43, added: ‘It’s interesting to watch out your window; you can see them whizzing around on occasion, and it’s fun.

‘It can be more fun to watch than the TV.’

The couple think the mega-ride – believed to be the first of its kind – is destined for Dubai, and while they can ‘understand why some people have a problem with it’, since it shadows their gardens, it doesn’t upset them.

‘The only thing that is a menace is when they leave the straps out overnight,’ he claimed. ‘The wind catches them, and the straps make a crashing sound, which can be annoying.’

It’s said the ride has also made the area a magnet for urban explorers, who were ‘going on it’.

In contrast to Jack and Kirsty’s stance, some individuals on the 12-house road say the rollercoaster ‘ruins the views’ from their homes, with one man claiming it’s not ‘suitable’ to be kept there full-time.

‘It’s been there for ages, and it just makes you feel like you’re living next to a funfair,’ he grumbled.

‘When the workmen are repairing it, they can see right into your gardens and bedrooms, which is a bit intrusive.

‘We shouldn’t feel like we’re being watched in our homes.’

Another echoed that it spoils the views from ‘almost every window’, having supposedly been told it ‘wouldn’t be here as long as it has been’.

James Mellors, director at the family-owned firm, admitted the rollercoaster has been up longer than ‘anticipated’ but insisted it was temporary.

‘It’s the first one in the world, and it’s just not quite been going together as well as it should,’ he explained, acknowledging that it’s ‘frustrating’ since the ‘rides don’t make any money when they’re in storage’.

‘Our aim is to be a good neighbour,’ he reasoned. ‘We’re not there to try and cause a nuisance. It’s not a fairground; it’s a work depot.

‘We want people to appreciate what we do, and we appreciate their concerns.’

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