Couple win Alton Towers battle

A couple have won a 25-year battle to get a theme park to turn down the volume.

Stephen and Suzanne Roper brought a private prosecution against Alton Towers, Staffordshire, whose land borders their property in the picturesque village of Farley.

Stephen and Suzanne Roper brought a private prosecution against Alton Towers, Staffordshire, whose land borders their property in the picturesque village of Farley.

The couple said fireworks and constant noise caused by the rides and screams from thrill-seekers had made their lives a nightmare.

Concerts and corporate weekends with discos, live bands and loud public address systems, had also contributed to their misery, they said.

At Stafford Crown Court today, District Judge Timothy Gascoigne found the Londonbased owner, Tussaud's Theme Parks, guilty of noise nuisance under the 1990 Environmental Protection Act.

The judge said he visited the Ropers' home, about 100 metres from the main entrance, last month and could "clearly hear" screams from the riders on Oblivion. The ride stops at the edge of a drop then plummets vertically into a hole in the ground before coming out of a tunnel. He said the design induced screaming which was intrusive.

He scheduled a hearing for 1 November to hear submissions about a noise abatement order should it be served.

At North Staffordshire magistrates' court on 15 July, Mr Roper, 62, a pottery firm boss, said: "Your windows literally shake and the ground shakes."

Mr and Mrs Roper moved to the village in 1969, 10 years before rollercoasters such as the Corkscrew appeared.

Their barrister Martin Diggins said today was "a historic victory for the little guy".

An Alton Towers spokeswoman said: "Alton Towers is naturally very disappointed with this verdict and we will now consider the implications whilst we work towards a compromise that is acceptable to all parties.

"However, we are a theme park and it is inevitable that there will be some noise."