Old banger lives up to name, conking out after 15 minutes - Clee Hill (From Ludlow Advertiser)

Old banger lives up to name, conking out after 15 minutes - Clee Hill

8:00am Friday 10th July 2009

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A CLEE Hill couple had the worst possible start when they took part in the “Bangers to Barcelona”

challenge.

Within 15 minutes of leaving home, Sharon and Tony Cooney’s Mazda M5 lived up to its “banger”

badge when it broke down in Cleobury Mortimer.

The RAC was able to fix the problem but then the car also decided to misbehave on the M25 as the couple made their way to catch a ferry.

A broken clutch required more than a roadside repair and Sharon and Tony had to find a garage and, as a result missed the sailing.

Refusing to give up, the couple caught a later ferry and, apart from the air conditioning packing up, the three-day drive to Barcelona was remarkably uneventful.

“The only problem was, as we had no air con, we had to drive with the top down,” said Sharon. “It got very windy and cold at higher speed. I ended up dressing like it was winter but Tony donned his open shirt and sunglasses no matter what.”

Sharon, aged 42, and Tony, 36, raised £800 for the Hope House Hospice in Oswestry.

“The car did us proud. Most of the other teams also made it apart from a couple who had abandoned their cars after they had suffered fatal breakdowns,” said Sharon.

The couple have thanked supporters, including a list of firms hosting collections, including Countrywide, Aldi, Somerfield, The Squirrel, Entertainment Square at the castle in Ludlow and The Kremlin, Clee Hill.

“It’s very hard to collect money for charity, we have found, and do admire the people who choose to do this on a regular basis – hats off to them,” said Sharon. “Thank you also to the Ink Spot and MPC repairs, who helped us with advertising and preparing the car.”

Although there was the option of scrapping their car in Spain, Sharon and Tony decided to drive it back to Clee Hill – the early problems long forgotten.

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