A VINTAGE car restoration company which serviced Inspector Morse’s famous Jaguar has been wound up by its owner.

David Royle, owner of Royle’s vintage motor car restoration, in Staindrop, County Durham, said the company never really recovered from the recession in the early Nineties.

As a result of the closure of the 50-year-old company, its ten staff, many of whom have been with Royle’s for more than 25 years, will be made redundant.

Mr Royle, originally from Newton Aycliffe, bought his first car – a vintage Lagonda – with £250 left to him when his father died. From there, he went on to buy and service more cars and his company cared for more than 850 vehicles from around the world.

They included the MK2 Jaguar used by actor John Thaw in hit crime drama Inspector Morse.

The company has also restored a £2m Rolls Royce Phantom VI, a Wilkie Wilkins Brooklands racing MG, and an OSCA MT4, built by the Maserati Brothers, in Italy, owned by racing legend Sir Stirling Moss.

“The current recession has actually been quite kind to us,” said Mr Royle, who lives in Gainford, near Barnard Castle.

“But we were hit hard by the recession in the Nineties and we have been fighting an uphill battle since then.

“The workshops are busy and the value of these specialist cars is high, but there have been some unscrupulous activities carried out by powerful people, which have denied the company the benefits of their years of diligent and honourable work.”

Mr Royle paid tribute to his staff, saying: “The people who have worked for me have been fantastic. They are very highly- skilled and it was hard for me to make them redundant.”

As well as the former schoolhouse, which the company used as its base in Staindrop, hundreds of pieces of specialist machinery, components and vehicle parts will be sold.

Anyone interested in buying the parts is asked to contact Philip Walker, at Lithgow Sons and Partners, on 01642-710158.