A classic Ford Fiesta due to appear in a special Wheeler Dealers episode with Mike Brewer has been stolen ahead of its star appearance.

Wheeler Dealers is a long-running TV series that sees classic cars in need of repair being bought to restore, with the aim of selling them for profit once complete.

Now in its 20th year, the show has been working on a special 1979 Ford Fiesta 1300S to mark the anniversary, while also helping to celebrate the imminent end of the production of the best-selling Ford hatchback.

However, the star car was last night stolen along with the white covered trailer it was inside from the car park of the Premier Inn in Pontefract, North Yorkshire.

In a plea on social media, Wheeler Dealers’ Mike Brewer, alongside co-presenter Marc ‘Elvis’ Priestley, urged the public to try and locate the stolen Fiesta.

Brewer said: “We urge you to share those pictures and get them out to as many people as possible in the hope that the classic car community can come together and we can find our trailer and find our car and finish this epic show.”

In the video, Priestley adds: “Please do help as we’re heartbroken and it’s a car that deserves to be out there for the world to see, not being squirrelled away on the back of some thief’s trailer.”

The dark blue Ford Fiesta 1300S (registration JBY 10V) is said to have had a ‘nut and bolt restoration’, with Brewer describing it as ‘the best mk1 Ford Fiesta in this country’.

It was due to make a special appearance at an event at The Motorist car cafe near Leeds today (June 27), where it would be assembled alongside 500 other Ford Fiestas in the show’s biggest event.

In a follow-up post, Brewer said he had received CCTV of a white Mercedes Sprinter towing the trailer away.

Goodwood’s Festival of Speed is rapidly approaching, with the annual celebration of all things motoring bringing cars, motorcycles and everything in between to the famous estate in the heart of West Sussex.

Kicking off on July 13 and running until July 16, this year’s Festival of Speed is jam-packed with displays, shows and some of the latest metal to check out. Here, we’ve got a breakdown of some of the things you can expect from this year’s event.

Sebastian Vettel to champion e-fuels

The Festival of Speed is always attended by some of the best racing drivers of all time and this year’s event is no different. Four-time Formula 1 World Champion Sebastian Vettel will be heading to the show on Saturday and Sunday in a number of cars from his own personal collection, including a 1993 McLaren MP4/8 that was driven by Ayrton Senna.

But he’s here for more than just cars alone. Vettel will also be powering his cars entirely with synthetic fuels, while around 20 per cent of all the vehicles at this year’s event will be run on alternative fuels, be that hydrogen, electric or synthetic.

Porsche’s 75th-anniversary celebration

It’s a big year for Porsche. The German sports car manufacturer is celebrating its 75th anniversary this year and, fittingly, it’s going to be the ‘honoured marque’ at this year’s Festival of Speed.

As a result, there will be parades of all things Porsche while the famous Central Feature sculpture will also be Porsche themed – though the look of it is being kept tightly under wraps until the big event.

100 years of Le Mans 24 Hours

It’s a year of big milestones, with one of the most famous endurance races of all time – the Le Mans 24 Hours – celebrating its 100th year. This year’s Le Mans race was quite the spectacle, with a number of spills and thrills happening throughout the gruelling challenge.

Le Mans is being celebrated during this year’s Festival of Speed, too. A total of 16 drivers – who between them hold 46 Le Mans race wins – will be in attendance, including nine-time winner Tom Kristensen and five-time winner Derek Bell.

Jenson Button to celebrate Williams Racing

Williams Racing is set to have a big presence at this year’s festival, with a number of its iconic cars taking to the famous hill climb. It’ll also be the first time that fans will get to see the winning livery from a Williams Racing x Gulf fan-voted competition.

But it’s not just cars that’ll be in attendance. Formula 1 drivers Logan Sargeant and Alex Albon will be driving Keke Rosberg’s race-winning FW08C, while 2009 Formula 1 World Champion Jenson Button will be in the heart of the action on the Sunday.

Future Lab returns with Tim Peake

Future Lab has proven to be a big hit at the Goodwood Festival of Speed. It’s a section of the show dedicated to – you guessed it – the future of motoring and mobility, with this year’s instalment based around ‘Technology for a Better World’.

Astronaut Tim Peake will also be in attendance as a curator of the ‘Beyond Earth, For Earth’ section of the exhibit which looks at the latest innovations in space travel and transportation.

Mick Schumacher drives his father’s car

Mick Schumacher will be in attendance at this year’s Festival of Speed and he’ll be driving a very prominent car – the Mercedes W02 raced by his father Michael during the 2011 season.

It’ll be 24-year-old Mick’s first time at Goodwood, too, and he’ll be in attendance on both Saturday and Sunday.

Thursday tickets for the Goodwood Festival of Speed remain on sale – though in limited numbers. Adult tickets start at £60.

Nearly a fifth (19%) of drivers say their local authority has either scrapped parking payment machines or is consulting on doing so, a survey suggests.

The RAC said its poll of 1,900 UK motorists indicates that millions of people are or will soon be forced to use their phones to pay for parking.

There are concerns that requiring drivers to use a mobile app or call a phone number is particularly difficult for some elderly or vulnerable people, putting them at risk of being fined for non-payment.

Almost three out of five (59%) respondents to the survey said they felt angry about the idea of parking machines being removed, believing they should be able to pay however they want.

The figure rose to 73% for those aged 65 and older.

A fifth (20%) of drivers said they felt discriminated against as they cannot use mobile apps to pay for parking.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents councils, said there are “advantages in going digital” and work is being done to “make the process as simple as possible”.

Communities Secretary Michael Gove wrote to councils in April expressing concern about drivers being “digitally excluded” through a lack of alternative payment methods.

There are complaints among drivers about the number of different parking apps used by councils, such as RingGo, PayByPhone, JustPark, ParkMobile and ParkMe.

To use each one, drivers must download them and enter their details. Some charge an additional fee.

Some 11% of people surveyed reported that a proportion or all parking payment machines have been removed near where they live, with an additional 8% saying their local authority is consulting on doing so.

Drivers in London were most likely to say either of the scenarios applied to them (44%) followed by those in the east of England (23%) and the East Midlands (22%).

Many councils and private parking operators are getting rid of older machines that process card payments by 3G mobile signals, which telecoms operators are switching off.

This has left them with the choice of buying more modern machines or switching to a phone-based payment system, which does not require physical infrastructure in car parks beyond signs.

RAC spokesman Rod Dennis said: “While for many people a switch to purely mobile phone-based parking payment poses no problems, our research clearly shows that for others it spells bad news.

“In fact, a majority of drivers across all age groups think getting rid of parking payment machines is a bad idea.

“Of course, cash-strapped councils will find it difficult to justify spending large sums of public money on upgrading parking machines, which explains why some are bringing in third-party parking app providers instead.

“But it’s vital councils, and indeed private parking operators, carefully assess the impact of going down this route before taking machines away.

“Our research shows that – by removing some methods of paying for parking – they are undoubtedly making life harder for some drivers and possibly contributing to social isolation.

“The move could also lead to lower parking revenue as a result of drivers being put off from parking in the first place, something that’s surely not in any local authority’s interests.”

The RAC surveyed 1,900 UK drivers who are part of its driver opinion panel. They figures were weighted to be nationally representative.

LGA transport spokesman Darren Rodwell said: “The removal of the 3G network is posing considerable challenges to some councils who operate physical parking meters.

“This change, along with other customer trends, has led to councils digitising parts of their parking services.

“This includes moving to cashless payments and in certain cases removing parking meters when other more beneficial, efficient and secure ways can be taken to make payments.

“In line with other public and private services, there are advantages in going digital, such as drivers getting a text warning that time will expire, or being able to extend their stay without returning to the car park, as well as reducing the risks of theft from payment machines.

“Councils are working with Government and parking operators to streamline the number of apps needed to make payments, to make the process as simple as possible for residents.”

Chinese firm BYD has launched its second new model in the UK – the Dolphin.

Following on from the Atto 3, the Dolphin brings a range of up to 265 miles courtesy of a 60.5kWh ‘Blade’ battery which is cobalt-free and offers a ‘much higher level of safety’ compared with conventional lithium-ion batteries.

Priced from £25,490 and due to start delivery in the year’s final quarter, the Dolphin will be offered in four different specifications – Active, Boost, Comfort and Design. Active models use a smaller 44.9kWh battery and bring a lower range of up to 211 miles, while boost versions use the same setup but add in multi-link rear suspension and 17-inch alloy wheels.

Step up to Comfort and you get that larger battery and longer range, while a maximum charging speed of 88kW means that a 30 to 80 per cent charge can be conducted in 29 minutes. These versions are priced from £29,490.

Finally, the Design has the same mechanical setup as the Comfort, but adds a panoramic roof, two-tone paint and tri-colour wheels alongside wireless smartphone charging and privacy glass. Prices for Design-spec Dolphin models start from £30,990.

All versions of the Dolphin get a heat pump as standard, too, which helps to improve the efficiency of the batteries during colder weather. Versions of the Dolphin equipped with the 60.4kWh battery use a single electric motor that enables a zero to 60mph time of just under seven seconds and a top speed of 100mph.

Vehicle-to-load (V2L) technology also means that the Dolphin can use its battery charge to power external devices, while its 345-litre boot can be expanded up to 1,310 litres by folding down the rear seats.

The number of UK vehicles with illegal or near-illegal tyre tread depth has soared in 12 months, new figures indicate.

Motoring services company Halfords said 6.5% of the vehicles it checked in April had at least one tyre with tread depth below the permitted minimum, up from 3.8% in the same month a year earlier.

For tyres on the borderline of legal levels, the proportion rose from 7.0% to 7.8% over the same period.

Halfords believes the increase is due to a rise in the number of potholes and the impact of the cost-of-living crisis.

The company, which inspects around 10 million vehicles a year for MoTs and servicing, said if its figures are representative of all vehicles on UK roads then more than 4.2 million have tyres with illegal or near-illegal tread depth.

Tread is the grooved section of tyres which comes into contact with the road.

In the UK, the legal minimum depth is 1.6mm.

Low tread tyres are more susceptible to punctures and blowouts, and have a detrimental effect on fuel economy, braking and steering.

Halfords chief executive Graham Stapleton said: “There’s a perfect storm of increasingly poorly maintained roads, caused by the squeeze on public finances, and increasingly worn tyres, caused by the squeeze on people’s pockets.

“Now more than ever we need to make it affordable for people to stay safe.

Halfords is offering customers the option of having tyres replaced now and deferring almost all of the cost until next year, interest-free.

Steve Gooding, director of the RAC Foundation, said: “For all the hi-tech features modern cars now contain, our safety is still dependent on the four small patches of rubber that connect them to the road.

“The condition of our tyres is safety-critical and well worth the matter of minutes it would take drivers to quickly check that they have enough tread and are correctly inflated.

“Hard-pressed households looking to save money might want to take a chance on when to get their car tyres replaced, but running on bald rubber is surely a risk too far.”

The AA said it received more than 52,000 call-outs to vehicles stranded due to faults likely to have been caused by potholes in April, up 29% on the same month in 2022.

The cost of bringing pothole-plagued local roads in England and Wales up to scratch has been estimated at £14 billion.

Highways authorities and landowners need to help tackle the ‘menace’ of road signs being obscured by hedges, according to a leading road safety organisation.

GEM Motoring Assist has said that blocked road signs are ‘at best’ a nuisance for drivers, but could be misleading and dangerous at their worst.

The Highways Act 1980 (Section 154) states that landowners must protect the safety of road users by maintaining roadside hedges and trees. Though the bird nesting season usually stops any tree cutting from happening until after August, this doesn’t apply to a tree or hedgerow overhanging a highway and blocking the view of drivers.

Neil Worth, GEM chief executive, said: “Road signs provide vital instructions and information for drivers, who choose their speeds and actions based on what the signs tell them.

“If they can’t see the signs, then their ability to make safe decisions is compromised, especially if they’re on unfamiliar roads.”

GEM has added that any driver who finds a road sign that is obscured by foliage should report it to the ‘appropriate local authority’.

Worth added: “Dealing with trees, branches and plants that hide traffic signs is a vital task, ensuring that speed limit and other signs are made as clear as possible to everyone using their roads.

“We therefore ask any farmer and landowners to do their bit for road safety and ensure any signs are clearly visible for road users, and that drivers have a clear and unobstructed view ahead, particularly at junctions and on the inside of bends.”

A 1972 Reliant Regal believed to be one of only half a dozen ‘star cars’ to feature in the hit comedy show ‘Only Fools and Horses’ has sold for £19,350 at auction.

The Regal Supervan III was sold without reserve yet kept climbing when it went under the hammer, with many attending the Classic Car Auctions sale on June 17 keen to get their hands on the iconic three-wheeler.

The car in question came from a private collector who had owned it since 2021, though it had also been previously owned by John Mansfield from the BBC. The eye-catching yellow paintwork is present and correct, as is the iconic Trotters Independent Trading Company logo on the side.

Classic Car Auctions says that the Regal underwent recent recommissioning works in preparation for the auction, with new tyres fitted and the braking system overhauled. Plus, the fuel system was completely checked through to ensure that it was in proper working order.

It came complete with roof rack, suitcase, fluffy dice and even an inflatable doll which made an appearance in Series 6 of Only Fools and Horses, during the second episode ‘Danger UXD’.

The interior also features leather seating and original wood finishing for the dashboard. With 97,000 miles on the clock, the Regal is just shy of the famous 100,000-mile marker for any classic car.

A number of other classics also jumped to high prices during the auction, including a 1990 Ford Sierra Sapphire Cosworth 4×4 which sold for £39.375 and a 1993 Toyota Supra which fetched £26,550.

Jeremy Clarkson has hand-delivered crates of his beer to the Alpine F1 team following a social media challenge.

The Grand Tour presenter tweeted halfway through last month’s Monaco Grand Prix to pledge his support for the racing team, stating: “Come on Alpine. I’ll buy you all a pint if you get a podium here.”

Soon after, team driver Esteban Ocon crossed the line in third place, arriving just behind pole-position Max Verstappen and second-place Fernando Alonso. At the time, Clarkson followed up on his initial tweet with a post stating: “Well done Alpine. I owe you many Hawkstones.”

He has now delivered on his promise, turning up at the Alpine F1 HQ in Enstone, Oxfordshire, alongside Clarkson’s Farm co-star Kaleb Cooper and a trailer full of his own Hawkstone Beer. The beer brand was launched in 2021, with its primary ingredients coming directly from Clarkson’s Diddly Squat farm in Chipping Norton, only around 20 minutes from the Alpine F1 team base.

Clarkson appeared on his Lamborghini tractor, which plays a starring role in Clarkson’s Farm, and handed out beers to members of the Alpine F1 team.

Alpine tweeted following the delivery, saying: “Delivering on his word. Cheers for the beers, Jeremy Clarkson.”

The Alpine F1 team couldn’t quite live up to its podium-placing drive in Monaco at the recent Spanish Grand Prix, however, with Ocon coming in eighth and teammate Pierre Gasly taking 10th position.

Speed limits of 20mph should be imposed on all roads near schools to reduce the number of child crash deaths, according to a charity.

Brake, which campaigns to boost road safety, said cutting speed limits “saves lives”.

Department for Transport figures show 2,456 children aged under 16 were killed or seriously injured on Britain’s roads last year.

Many councils have introduced 20mph zones around schools.

But Brake said nearly two-thirds of parents reported that some roads near their children’s schools have higher limits.

The charity cited the example of Dropmore Infant School in Buckinghamshire where the limit on nearby roads is up to 60mph, and there are areas with no pavements.

Headteacher Gitta Streete, who has called for the speed limit on surrounding roads to be reduced to 20mph for several years, said: “What we often hear back is that because no-one has been seriously hurt or killed on that road, there is no need to make any changes.

“One parent had their car door taken off by a passing car. That could easily have been a child, parent or carer being hit.

“What we need is a proper, phased speed reduction system: a reduction to 20mph outside the school and safe areas for everyone to walk along and cross the road.”

Steven Broadbent, Buckinghamshire Council’s cabinet member for transport, insisted the local authority takes road safety “incredibly seriously” and is “very much aware of the concerns that have been raised” in relation to Dropmore.

He went on: “We want to continue working as closely as possible with them and all schools to ensure all students have safe passage to and from school.”

Brake campaigns manager Lucy Straker said: “Dropmore’s situation is being replicated across the country.

“We speak to lots of schools where teachers are doing everything they can to make the roads near their school safe, but ultimately they need support from their local council and decision-makers.

“Why do we have to wait until a child is killed before we act?”

“We know that excess speed is a factor in about a quarter of fatal crashes, and the physics is pretty straightforward: the faster a vehicle is travelling, the harder it hits and the greater the impact.

“A crash at 30mph has twice the amount of kinetic energy as a crash at 20mph. Reducing speed saves lives.

“We’re calling for roads around every school to have 20mph speed limits – and other measures to effectively reduce traffic speed – so children and their families can travel safely to and from school every day.”

Children from more than 700 schools and nurseries are expected to participate in Brake’s Kids Walk on Wednesday, which involves walking in groups and calling for safe and healthy journeys without fear from traffic.

From September 17, the Welsh Government is introducing a default 20mph limit on residential roads and busy pedestrian streets.

It said Wales will be “one of the first countries in the world, and the first nation in the UK” to introduce such legislation.

Linda Taylor, transport spokesperson for the Local Government Association, said: “It is up to each individual council to introduce measures based on their own local needs, taking into account the views of the school, police and local residents.

“Speed limits exist for a reason and road users must observe them to keep children and parents safe.”

A Department for Transport spokeswoman said: “Local authorities in England decide speed limits on their roads but we always encourage road designs that prioritise safety.

“There are no plans to introduce default or national 20mph speed limits in urban environments.”

Learner drivers in the UK are spending over £45.5 million on retaking tests each year, new research has suggested.

Government driving data – reviewed by comparison site Go Compare – found 722,192 repeat driving test attempts were conducted between April 2021 and March 2022, with more than 50,000 drivers being on ‘at least’ their sixth attempt at the test. With each test costing £62.90, millions are spent on re-taking practical examinations.

Ryan Fulthorpe, a motoring expert at Go Compare, said: “Our estimates show that retaking driving tests is costing the nation’s learners a fortune, especially for those who have multiple attempts. Plus, with the announcement of a longer wait before rebooking a test, today’s learners are facing a pricey ‘cost of failing.’

“While it might be tempting to take your test as soon as possible, taking your time and ensuring you’re fully prepared will minimise the chances of you having to stump up for another one.”

It comes as learners face having to wait 28 working days before rebooking their test if they fail, rising from the 10-working-day period that was required beforehand.

Learners could also be facing a larger wait to get licences if they do pass, with DVLA workers launching two weeks of strikes over a dispute over pay, pensions, jobs and conditions. Members of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) have said that the strike could lead to backlogs for licences and tachographs.