EVEN the king of spin was too scared to try out the latest dare-devil ride at Blackpool Pleasure Beach!

The top amusement park turned into spin city as Max Clifford arrived to open the thrilling new Spin Doctor ride.

Known for many months only as WK2, Spin Doctor twirls riders through 360 scream-filled degrees at the ends of two giant propellers, Spin Doctor East and Spin Doctor West.

And Mr Clifford officially launched the gravity flouting ride yesterday as park chairman Doris Thompson, 99, looked on.

Standing on the Tom Sawyer bridge between the two propellers of the ride, Mr Clifford told onlookers: "It's the first time I have ever been to Blackpool and it's been a shock -- it's amazing! It's lovely to be here and I am sure the ride is going to give an awful lot of excitement and pleasure -- to some strange folk."

Geoffrey Thompson and daughter Amanda were also to the fore, along with representatives of sponsor Walls, a group announced as Russian cosmonauts, dancing girls, and several game folk in chicken suits.

With legs dangling, the first brave riders sat back to back in the carriages at the ends of the propellers. Carriages also spin independently giving riders double the dose of 360 madness.

Afterwards one breathless rider said: "It's absolutely brilliant. I've done a bungee jump and when your legs are dangling and the ride's in motion it feels a bit like that. It's a lot smoother than I expected and I definitely want to go on again!"

But Mr Clifford, who arrived in Blackpool for dinner with Geoffrey Thompson on Tuesday night, declined an invitation to ride Spin Doctor. "I was petrified," he admitted. "I'm not one for rides but I can see how people are enjoying themselves.

He added: "Blackpool's an eye opener. Light entertainment has virtually died in the south and the fact is that it's thriving up here makes it your gain and our loss. I would certainly like to think I can come back to Blackpool at some point."

The movement of the ride's two propellers is linked by programmable logic controllers (PLC) and powered by two DC motors. Each propeller is attached to a column fixed to a 6m x 6m x 2m concrete foundation.

Riders are spun to an incredible height of 120ft at speeds of more than 60mph and they can feel g-forces of up to 3.6g, similar to those experienced by riders on the park's Pepsi Max Big One rollercoaster. Each seat is fitted with a safety shoulder restraint and carriages are accessed at ground level from the Tom Sawyer Bridge.

Manufactured by Italian company Fabbri, Spin Doctor has been created by Blackpool Pleasure Beach engineers under the project leadership of chief engineer David Rothwell and senior project manager David Mercer.

"The height and speed of Spin Doctor at Blackpool Pleasure Beach dramatically combine to create an extraordinarily spectacular rider and ride-watcher experience," said a Pleasure Beach spokeswoman.

You can say that again!