A factory which makes Reliant Robins has halted production because of a shortage of parts.

Les Collier took over the rights to the cult car last July and launched a luxury version of the three-wheeler which was produced at his factory near Sudbury.

Within weeks, dozens of orders had been placed for the �10,000 cars but just 12 months later, production has stopped after difficulties in obtaining key components.

The move has resulted in job losses for some of the factory's production line staff.

The three-wheeler starred in the TV comedy

Mr Collier, a glass-fibre expert, has described the move as a "temporary blip" and says he is confident the Robins will be in production again soon.

The three-wheeler car became an icon as Del Boy's transport in the hit television comedy Only Fools and Horses.

Mr Collier's version of the Robin features leather upholstery, alloy wheels, electric windows, a sunroof and a CD player.

The shells of the cars are made at Mr Collier's other factory in Beccles and transferred to a unit on an industrial estate at Acton where the engines are fitted along with the wiring and interiors before they are painted.

In its heyday in the 1960s, more than 300 of the fibre-glass vehicles were produced every week and Reliant Motors in Staffordshire was once the second largest all-British car maker.

But production of the car was stopped when sales slumped to just 10 a week.

The car was originally built from aluminium, but became the first mass-production vehicle with a fibreglass body in the 1950s.