As a child, Palace Pier marketing manager Julia Gallagher would have preferred to have her teeth pulled out than jump on a fairground ride.

She almost fainted after clambering up the Eiffel Tower during a holiday in her youth and is not too keen on aeroplanes.

Nor does Julia, 29, relish the prospect of thrashing around on a waltzer or rocketing along upside down on a rollercoaster.

So you might think she made an odd choice in taking her new job. But Julia is getting used to the thrills and spills of all the attractions.

She said: "I am scared to death of fairground rides. I never went on any when I was younger, I could not face it.

"I have never been to Alton Towers and just always refused to go on any rides.

"I am scared of heights, I remember going up the Eiffel Tower and I just did not want to come back down again, there is that fear of throwing yourself off.

"I just felt really faint and queasy. I do not like the sensation when you go on rides, it makes me very wobbly."

Julia applied for the post on the pier because she fell in love with it when she moved to Brighton from Birmingham 12 years ago.

She has successfully dragged all of her friends and family round the structure during her time in Brighton to show them her favourite building.

But she said she has avoided giving the three roller coasters on the pier a spin and has made do with driving bumper cars, adding: "I am a very competent driver."

She said: "There could not be anything more quintessentially Brighton than the pier.

"It is the second most popular tourist attraction in the country and is unique.

"I know the place back to front and my office has lovely sea views. When I moved down here I fell in love with the pier and Brighton and I have never felt the need to return to the Midlands."

Julia, who previously worked for a company organising travel exhibitions, studied geography at the University of Sussex before deciding to remain by the sea she adores.

She also resents flying anywhere and said: "The more you fly the more you convince yourself you are tempting fate and the odds stack up against you."'