Man buys Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach log flume for £140 on eBay

Jason Lawrance, a 28-year-old Lidl warehouse operative from Durham, has visited the attraction on Great Yarmouth's Golden Mile for decades.

Jason (left), his brother and his mum: all loyal devotees of Great Yarmouth's Pleasure Beach which they visit nearly every year (Image: Jason Lawrance)

He settled on the idea of buying his own flume after coming across a fellow theme-park enthusiast in Blackpool in 2015 who had "turned one of them into a go-kart" and was "riding it up and down the seafront".

Inspired by the man's craftiness, Mr Lawrance tracked down a vintage seller on eBay who happened to have eight Great Yarmouth Pleasure Beach log flumes for sale down in Margate, Kent.

His "cheeky bid" of £140 was accepted, and the flume began the journey from one end of the country to the other.

One of the Pleasure Beach's log flumes, which Jason plans to decorate in the exact same style as the log flumes at the park now (Image: Jason Lawrance)

However, since that "moment of madness" five years ago, Mr Lawrance confessed that the boat has sat dormant in the allotment at the back of his house.

The main reason for the delay in progressing with his project, he said, was the sheer heaviness of the flume.

"It took five big strapping men to get it out of the delivery van and into my garden," he said. "I had absolutely no idea the thing would be that heavy. It was like the weight of a small car.

Jason chilling in his log flume in his Durham garden (Image: Jason Lawrance)

"It's made of really thick fibreglass, and it's taken five years for me and my mate to finally get round to sawing off the bottom. It took us four hours the other day because it required so much effort.

"I found out later that the seller had used a forklift to get the flume into the delivery van. And there we were with pure muscle power."

Explaining why the Pleasure Beach flumes were in Kent in the first place, owner Albert Jones explained he had sold some spare models to the Margate-based amusement park Dreamland years ago.

Jason (left), his brother and his mum at one of their favourite haunts - Great Yarmouth's Marine Parade (Image: Jason Lawrance)

Mr Lawrance, who has promised to keep the people of Great Yarmouth updated on his project, said: "My mam and brother were totally speechless when they saw this delivery van turn up with a log flume, but they quickly came round.

"We're going to decorate it so it looks exactly like the Pleasure Beach flumes as they are now.

"Even if they wanted to move it they can't - it's impossible to lift."