WHEN Gary Taylor was telephoned out of the blue and was told he had won a new car he thought it was bogus so decided to string the call along.

The web designer asked caller to hold for his bank details and took some convincing that he had genuinely won a Peugeot 208 Allure in a prize draw by the AutoCare network.

Mr Taylor spoke of his surprise as he took delivery of the new car at Andrea’s Autos in Bearpark, near Durham, today (Weds, Aug 10).

The independent garage is part of the Auto Care network, which holds a prize draw twice a year.

Mr Taylor said: “As my hero Alan Partridge would say 'back of the net'.

“My wife brought our car down for an MOT and filled out the details in my name.

“When I got the call saying I had won I thought it was the beginning of a scam, so a I dangled a worm saying I’m just looking for my wallet to see if she would take the bait.

“But she said she wasn’t interested in bank details. It hasn’t sunk in yet. For the last few days I said I would believe it when I had the keys in my hand.

“The old car, a Vauxhall Astra, is going to be passed down to my daughter who is at university.”

Andrea’s Autos manager Richard Watts said: “I’m really pleased a local person has won the main prize. For me that was great, because he had been coming to us for many years."

AutoCare network manager Maria McCullough, who broke the news to Mr Taylor, was at the garage to hand over the keys.