NEW Milton-based engineer, Cliff Polton, is hard at work on some of his more robust creations now the countdown to the Daily Echo-backed British Pedal Car Grand Prix has begun.

The boss of Royce UK on the Stem Lane industrial estate is spending every spare minute building pedal cars to be used in this year’s race around Ringwood town centre on July 11.

Cliff – whose exquisite craftsmanship has made him the choice of Olympic cycling champions, Chris Boardman and Nicole Cooke – has made seven of the 54 cars set to line up on the Market Place grid.

The car pictured is Cliff’s year 2000 model, number 25, and known affectionately known as Royce Two, which boasts a chassis hand brazed from molybdenum tubular steel.

The wheels are “406” sized alloy rims. Sturmey Archer drum brakes mounted in the front hubs slow the car down, while the rear wheels revolve around Cliff’s hand built precision Royce hubs.

Much of the drive train for the nine-speed model comes from Japanese bicycle component manufacturer, Shimano, while the bottom bracket and shell is hand built by Cliff in his unit at Queensway.

Bright yellow bodywork made from sheet aluminium is the final addition to the car, which took some four weeks to build and cost a cool £3,500 in parts and labour.

This year’s race will be held over an extended 1.4kilometre circuit to accommodate a field boosted by an extra 19 entrants from the 2008 race.

The last outing for the biennial event raised more than £12,000 for charity, and money from this year’s event will boost the coffers of Help For Heroes, the Tenovus Cancer Charity, and Wave 105’s Cash for Kids appeal.

Sponsorship packages for the race – which drew some 10,000 people to Ringwood in 2008 and gained extensive radio, television and newspaper coverage – are still available.

For more information, call race director, Jim Stride, on 07891 336419.