WORKERS at a vintage motor car restorers faced a real challenge in the shape of a rusty old horsedrawn carriage.

The team at David Royle and Co Ltd, in Staindrop, County Durham, are more used to sprucing up classic sports cars than rotting Victorian carriages.

But they agreed to take on the project at the request of Harrogate Museum, which had been given the carriage after it was found in a field near Huddersfield, in Yorkshire.

The wood on the carriage had to be fumigated to get rid of insects before it was treated and repainted.

Nick Royle, who has worked as a restorer for two years, said the project had taken them more than three months to complete.

He said: "It hasn't been a restoration project so much as a conservation project, to try to bring the carriage back to life.

"It's been quite a job and not something any of the lads here are used to. We are more accustomed to restoring private collectors' vintage cars than rusty old carriages."

The carriage was known as a "four-in-hand", which means it was drawn by four horses, and dates from the 1870s.

It was made by Mackies of Harrogate, and was called the Park Drag Coach.

Mr Royle, 25, said: "As far as we know the last owners were from Yorkshire and used it to go for days out, but to use it they would need to change the horses every 20 miles."

The carriage will be returned to the museum, where it will become a permanent exhibit.