AN artistic bobby with a love for classic cars is winning international acclaim for his brush strokes.

Sergeant Malcolm Davies (pictured), from Cleveland Police's emergency planning unit, has painted thousands of portraits of high-powered and classic cars over the past 20 years. Ferraris are his favourite, with his last two paintings going to a buyer in Japan.

The 43-year-old father-of-one from Hartlepool began painting aircraft and motorbikes before switching to cars, and most of his work is based on photographs.

After contacting numerous classic car clubs he received commissions for his acrylic and water-colour paintings from motorists all over the world, including record producer Peter Waterman.

"He had a couple of Formula One cars that had been driven by Nikki Lauder and Gilles Villeneuve which he wanted painting," said the Middlesbrough sergeant. "All my paintings are extremely detailed, that's what people like about them. Normally, a painting takes me 15 to 20 hours." Sgt Davies, a policeman for 24 years, has no plans to give up his day job. "You can't make enough money out of it to do it full-time," he said. "I enjoy it, it's an enjoyable hobby, and it is something that I would like to spend more time at when I retire. Chasing cars around the world to paint would be very nice."