STEEPLEJACK Fred Dibnah climbed new heights when he painted Britain's newest rollercoaster.

The flat-capped TV celebrity put the finishing touches to the Jubilee Odyssey, a 225 feet high ride at Skegness.

Bolton-born Fred, who lives in the Haulgh, helped to paint the ride ahead of its official opening by HRH The Duke of Kent.

A spokesman for The Magical World of Fantasy Island theme park, on the Lincolnshire coast, said the resort chose Fred because of his head for heights.

He said: "Sections of the ride are extremely high and so we needed someone with a steady hand who wouldn't be afraid of being so high up. The ideal person was Fred Dibnah." The steeplejack, who has featured on many television shows since the early 1980s, swapped his flat cap for a hard hat to comply with health and safety regulations.

More than 15 tonnes of red, white and blue paint has been provided by Bolton-based paint manufacturers WJ Leigh and Company to decorate the ride.

The roller coaster has been specially commissioned to commemorate The Queen's Golden Jubilee.

It runs along 4,200 feet of track, making it the longest of its kind in the world.