Bass Car

Driver Andy Hazell battles to find a place to park his new car – because it’s an 18ft-long fish. The battered Vauxhall Corsa has been turned into a giant scale model of a sea bass.

It now measures 18ft from nose to tail, but Andy admits he can’t fit it into car parks.

He said, “I made it for a laugh but it does cause me a few problems when I take it out for a spin. I get lots of fishy looks, but I have a whale of a time driving it until I try to park. It’s just too big and that’s no fisherman’s tale.”

Builder Mr Hazell, 48, has fitted a cunning hydraulic system to the silver car so the fish can swish its tail, raise its fins and open and close its mouth. There are more than 100 fluorescent lights along its streamlined body making it an electrifying sight to catch the eye.

Mr Hazell of Knighton, Powys, said, “It took me three weeks to build and has cost me a couple of thousand pounds. Designers these days make cars slippery and aerodynamic, so I thought a fish was the next step.”

“Some people do think I’m mad but I love building strange things.”

Mr Hazell will be showing off his fish car by driving it to Newcastle for an annual New Year’s illuminated car parade.

But he can’t drive it on the road – well officially, anyway – so the catch will arrive on a trailer.