'Why I'm driving a Reliant Robin around Europe'

"Sometimes you have to do quirky things to grab people's attention don't you?"

The mayor of Erewash in Derbyshire is planning a near 2,000-mile tour of Europe in a Reliant Robin, where he aims to visit the borough's three twinned towns in France and Germany.

Councillor Harry Atkinson, who became one of the country's youngest mayors at the age of 25, is also set to take on the infamous Nuburgring race track in Germany during the trip, and plans to visit the World War One battlefield of Ypres in Belgium to lay a wreath.

He is due to set off from Derbyshire on 10 April with childhood friend Matt Micklewright, who owns the 34-year-old blue vehicle which sports a union jack on the bonnet.

Many will associate Reliants with Only Fools and Horses, but Del Boy's famous three-wheeled yellow van was a Reliant Regal.

Atkinson said he hoped the trot around the continent would trigger more interest in the European towns twinned with Long Eaton and Ilkeston.

"I personally believe more than ever it's important to go out and be friends with people," he said.

"And they're very similar towns. Langen in Germany is a suburb of Frankfurt.

"It's very, very similar to Long Eaton as in being kind of a mixture of Derby and Nottingham suburbs."

Also part of the itinerary will be a visit to Châlons-en-Champagne in France, which has been twinned with Ilkeston since 1957, and Romorantin-Lanthenay, in the Loire Valley, which is linked to Long Eaton.

"They're places that you'd probably never normally visit," he added.

The trip will also raise money towards a new scout hut in Sawley and a community radio station.

Atkinson said: "It has a top speed of only 85mph – downhill – with a 0-to-60 time of around 16 seconds so we won't be breaking any lap records.

"But it is a fun way to raise money for my Mayor's charities – the 1st Sawley Scouts in their mission to build a new scout hut and the youth academy of local community radio station Erewash Sound."

The car, which has just 55,000 miles on the clock, has previously made it to Norway and back but needs a hasty repair as it currently does not start.

Atkinson described the car as "mostly reliant", adding "we've got a bit of time to get it straightened out".

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