Wigan scouts sleep overnight in Blackpool Tower's 'hair-raising' glass-bottom room

Around 50 members of the beavers, cubs and scouts from the 1st Lowton Scout Group slept in sleeping bags around 400ft up in the tower’s infamous viewing room.

The children were joined by several leaders, who slept outside on the maintenance floor, two storey’s above.

Chris Hindley, 1st Lowton group leader, said: “Last year we decided to do it, just to do something a bit different.

“We searched on Google for unusual places to spend a night and this came up so we thought we would just go for it.

“The children were totally fine about it, they were jumping around on the glass floor. I’m scared of heights so it was a bit dodgy for me at first!

“It was pretty hair-raising but an amazing experience for them.”

In the months leading up to the trip, the scout club members took part in a sponsored walk to pay for the coach to take them to and from the seaside resort.

As part of the trip, the children took part in a circus-skills session inside the tower, where they learnt about juggling and plate-spinning.

Thanks to a short break in the weather, they were able to head onto the beach and build sandcastles.

Activities also included playing Dino Golf and paying a visit to the tower’s 4D cinema, as well as a traditional fish and chip dinner at Harry Ramsden’s before settling in for the night.

The event was overseen by another scouting group, leaders of which supervised the sleep so that the Lowton leaders could grab a few hours of kip before the next day’s events.

“We had to raise the money to pay for it but it was so worth it,” added Chris. “It’s not something that you get to do every day.”