Adrenaline junkie pensioners spend £60,000 riding 250 rollercoasters in theme parks across the world

These thrill-seeking pensioners claim to have found the secret to staying young in their golden years.

While many senior citizens choose to while away their down-time with the odd round of golf or potter in the garden, adrenaline junkies Dennis and Sylvia Bloor, from Cornwall, have splashed out £60,000 on riding stomach-churning rollercoasters at theme parks around the globe.

Mr Bloor, 74, and his wife, 64, have braved more than 250 rollercoasters across Europe and the U.S - as well as almost 4,000 trips on the Nemesis ride at Alton Towers - and insist their hobby keeps them looking and feeling youthful.

Not your average retirement: Sylvia and Dennis Bloor have chosen to spend their golden years riding rollercoasters rather than playing golf or bridge

Thrills and spills: Pensioners Sylvia and Dennis Bloor have ridden more than 250 rollercoasters in more than 40 theme parks across Europe and the U.S.

The Bloors are the oldest members of the Rollercoaster Club of Great Britain (RCCGB), which they joined nearly 20 years ago after becoming hooked on thrill rides.

Mrs Bloor, who has arthritis, claims the adrenaline boost she gets from a trip on a rollercoaster is 'like having a cortisone injection'.

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'Everybody's always telling us we look so youthful, I tell them it's all the screaming we do,' she said.

'It's all about the adrenaline, the fun and the anticipation. I've got arthritis and it's like having a cortisone injection.'

The Bloors have spent more than 1,000 days in over 40 theme parks across the globe since Sylvia first persuaded her 'reluctant' husband to take a trip to Alton Towers in 1994.

Extreme OAPs: Thrill-seeking pensioners Dennis Bloor, 74, and his wife Sylvia, 64, love nothing more than a rollercoaster ride

International pastime: The Bloors strap themselves in for another stomach-churning drop at Dorney Park in Pennsylvania, U.S.

She said: 'I liked roller coasters but I never went on them much and Dennis had been on one or two tame versions in his time.

'We only lived 15 miles from Alton Towers and were planning on moving to Cornwall so we wanted to cover all of the tourist attractions that we could before leaving the area.

'I said we ought to go and although he wasn't keen, Dennis reluctantly agreed.

'I got him on a runaway mine train and all I could hear was him screaming "woo-hoo",' Mrs Bloor said.

After that, the couple were hooked.

'I thought they were for kids - but it turns out they are for big kids too,' Mr Bloor said, before adding: 'The rest is history really, we love it.'

As members of the RCCGB, the couple, from Tregurrian in Cornwall, go on regular trips to theme parks around the world.

Unique hobby: The Bloors, seen at Alton Towers, have spent around £60,000 on riding rollercoasters around the world

Their membership entitles them to exclusive access on rides, including late-night sessions without the general public. They are also given premier access to new rides before they are officially opened.

Dennis, a former BT Telephone Exchange engineer, said: 'It's brilliant to be able to experience the rides in a completely different way to how the public would.

'The ride operators know that we all love speed, so they will alter the brakes to make us go faster.

'It's a completely different way of riding rollercoasters,' he said.

Every year the Bloors travel across the Atlantic for a three-week theme park extravaganza, visiting theme parks from New York to Chicago to San Francisco.

The couple's favourite steel roller coaster is the Top Thrill Dragster ride at Cedar Point Theme Park in Ohio, US, while the Voyage roller coaster at Holiday World in Santa Claus, Indiana is the top wooden ride according to the Bloors.

They are very popular among theme park staff right across the world, as their age sets them apart from the other 1,500 members of the RCCGB.

'We buy the ride operators little gifts and they will give us special allowances when we go to any of the parks without our group,' Mrs Bloor said.

'We have known them for such a long time and it's nice to see a familiar face when you travel around the world to all these fantastic parks.'

'We just love riding roller coasters - they're wonderful. We like to go as fast as possible,' said Mrs Bloor, a former BT Telephone Exchange supervisor, who insisted the couple never get bored of their hobby.

All aboard: The Bloors (centre) get set for another round of thrills and spills on a trip to Pacific Park in Canada last year

Adrenaline junkies: The couple (on the right) take a trip aboard a rollercoaster ride at Busch Gardens in Florida in 2009

'It's never the same experience and every ride is different.

'You're always sitting in a different seat where you will get a different level of G-Force, and the weather conditions will never be the same.

'It's always completely thrilling.'

'Completely thrilling': The Bloors take time out to enjoy a less nerve-wracking ride at the Six Flags theme park in New York in 2001

Long-time hobby: Mr Bloor is seen on a ride at Camden Park in West Virginia back in 1998, not long after the couple first fell for rollercoaster rides

The fearless pensioners say they will try any rollercoaster, no matter how fast the ride or how steep the drop.

But the pair do draw the line at water rides.

'Neither of us are a fan of water, and who wants to get drenched and feel cold all day,' Mr Bloor said.

'Give us a good roller coaster any day - we love them and they keep us young, it's a winning combination.'