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The sweets in the vending machines are no longer safe to eat and the heart-pounding rides are now as still as the fibreglass mascots which haunt the landscape.

These incredible images go inside the Japanese theme park left abandoned for nearly a decade.

Michael Turtle, 34, journeyed to the Nara Dreamland Theme Park, which closed in 2006, and photographed the abandoned attractions.

Iconic design: The castle at the 1961 Nara Dreamland theme park was modelled on Disneyland's Sleeping Beauty castle which opened in the US the year before

Michael Turtle said he felt this photo - in which spirals of an old rollercoaster are silhouetted against the sun with weeds growing all around it - is the most haunting

Nara Dreamland was built in 1961 as Japan's answer to Disneyland, which had opened in California the previous decade.

Towards the end of its life the park struggled with low visitor numbers and was eventually forced to close.

The land was not reused and the rides never dismantled, leaving the park, in the Nara Prefecture, in a state of suspended animation.

Mr Turtle, from London, photographed abandoned attractions, including a giant fibreglass witch, a severed robot's head, a rusted carousel and a large pink castle which shares certain design elements with the iconic Sleeping Beauty's Castle at the heart of Disneyland.

Empty streets: The land on which Nara Dreamland was built has never been reused - and the park has been left empty since it closed in 2006

Eerie: The park now lies abandoned after it closed down to the public in 2006, leaving rides empty for the past eight years

At a standstill: Horses on this merry-go-round are stuck in time after the Japanese theme park was left abandoned due to low visitor numbers

Mr Turtle, who researched the park's layout using Google Earth to assess the safest point of entry, said: 'It's not hard to imagine some disaster in the area which forced everyone to leave suddenly.

'I probably prepared for a little longer than I would have if this was a typical tourist attraction. The two things which concerned me were whether it would physically be possible to get inside, and how safe it would be.'

Mr Turtle decided he would make his attempt at 6am to assure he would catch the park at sunrise.

He said: 'The photo I feel is the most haunting is one where you can see the spirals of an old rollercoaster silhouetted against the sun with weeds growing all around it. 

No queues: The Japanese theme park closed down eight years ago due to a lack of interest and low visitor numbers

End of the ride: A severed robot's head is pictured in front of an abandoned rollercoaster at the old theme park in Japan

'Disneyland rival': The Japanese theme park was opened a year after the California attraction - but closed due to a lack of interest

'The sun is rising in the photo but it could just as easily be setting. The light adds to the eeriness of the location.'

During his time in Nara Dreamland Mr Turtle took more 150 photos, and even walked along the tracks of an abandoned ride.

Mr Turtle said: 'Because the old wooden rollercoasters are rotting slightly you have to be very careful about where you step.

'Oddly, I would even look behind me sometimes to make sure there were no carriages coming.'

Over the last three years Mr Turtle has photographed sights in more than 40 countries but concedes none are quite as eerie as those he found in Nara Dreamland. 

Unused attractions: This ride is suspended in mid-air after the Japanese theme park was closed in 2006 

Overgrown: Plants and grass have tangled their way through the rides, which have been left abandoned since the Japanese theme park closed eight years ago

A viking-themed ride at the Japanese theme park is pictured eight years after it closed

Nature begins to reclaim a rusting rollercoaster that has laid dormant since the park closed nearly a decade ago

No more fries with that: A food counter is abandoned and dirty after staff were told to leave the theme park in Japan when it closed in 2006

Off the rails: The photographer walked between this wooden tracks - which once held a rollercoaster - at the Japanese theme park