Town crier Chris Brown was stunned when friends pimped up his mobility scooter and turned it into a 17th-century galleon.

Alex and John Compani borrowed Chris’s wheeled machine for four days and transformed it into an old pirate ship as a surprise.

Chris, 55, was delighted with his new-look buggy which he now ‘sails’ through Wimborne wearing his gown and ceremonial hat and shouting the news to onlookers.

He has named his scooter, which has a top speed of 8mph or seven knots, the Black Pig after Captain Pugwash’s ship.

He said: “Alex and John asked to borrow my scooter for a couple of days and said they had a surprise for me.”

Chris, a social worker, suffered polio when he was a child and has had a number of operations on his legs.

Alex, 36, said: “Because Chris often wears his ceremonial hat and coat and has a long beard, his appearance lended itself to a 17th century galleon.

“We thought it would be very fitting.

“Chris has recently had an operation on his foot and got the scooter after that.

“We just wanted to cheer him up and thought this was the best way of doing it.”