A MOTOR-mad youngster had the ride of a lifetime when he went for a spin in a turbo-charged police car.

Eleven-year-old Ross Perry, of Newcastle, has two passions - Subarus and police cars.

Six forces around the country have Subaru Imprezas in their fleets, and Ross's father Stephen, a prison officer at Durham Prison, contacted the company last month to ask for a photograph for his son.

A spokesman for Subaru said: "We have a demonstrator Impreza in police livery, but we thought we could go one better than just sending Ross a picture.

"We got in touch with Durham Police and lent them the car for three days so they could give him a ride in it."

The Subaru Impreza WRX is the road-going version of a successful rally car and is twice as powerful as the average family car.

Ross and his seven-year-old brother, Jamie, enjoyed a half-hour drive with Barrie Barnett, the force's head of driver training before having a session on the skid pan.

Mr Perry said: "Ross is mad about Subarus and so is Jamie, so this was really fantastic, a day they will remember for a long time to come.

"The Impreza is awesome and I would certainly like to own one myself."

As well as showing Ross what the car could do, officers at Durham took advantage of the three-day loan to try it out for themselves