Taxi Driver Online

Yorkshire Post

October 25, 2007

'Stagmobile' soldier targets city revellers

IT GIVES a whole new meaning to getting tanked up on a stag night.

Ex-soldier Dereck Hardman is offering revellers in Hull a truly memorable night out - in a five-tonne troop carrier complete with Second World War Bren gun.

The BV206 vehicle has already caused a stir among pupils and staff at St Mary's College, when Mr Hardman, a temporary teacher there, took it to work.

The vehicle - bought from a specialist dealer in Staffordshire - has a few more home comforts than it had in its Army days. Mr Hardman has spent about £10,000 turning it into the "ultimate stag machine", with a red carpet, a £5,000 sound system, a fridge and even a smoke machine.

It has a top speed of 35mph and DVLA approval to go on the road.

He has written to the police for permission to fix the machine gun, and said there was "an issue with" it as "you can get five years for walking along a street with one.

"The law says you are not allowed to have even a deactivated weapon in public without

reasonable excuse. If it is a prop for my business that may be deemed a reasonable excuse as long as it doesn't cause harassment, alarm or distress."

Mr Hardman, who served with the Royal Engineers, drove a BV206 up Mount Kent just after the war in the Falklands to help set up a fuel pipeline.

And he remembered the experience when he was thinking about setting up a new limousine business in the city.

He said: "People who go in it are amazed by it.

"It puts down less ground pressure per square inch than half an adult human foot and it is one of the few vehicles which you can take into water without any preparation."

Mr Hardman, who lives on north Bransholme, admits his buy is a gamble. But he already has a stack of bookings for December.
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I bet the police don't accept that the gun is ok.

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Grandad,

I wonder if he ever thought about getting licensed?

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IDFIMH