Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ

He can't take it on the motorway, he's unlikely to beat anything away at the traffic lights, but to 32-year-old Craig Barker, none of this matters. He's in love. He's besotted.

And the object of his affections? Well, it's a traditional tuk-tuk. Based around a 175cc Vespa, tuk-tuks are motorised rickshaws more usually seen ferrying tourists around Asia than burning up the inside lane of the A14.

Craig (left) and the tuk-tuk

And just in case another tuk-tuk should turn up on the county's roads, Craig has made sure that his pimped and primped version will beat off the opposition in any pageant of prettiness.

He's personalised it with underskirt lighting, pink fluffy dice, over-sized wing mirrors, a cd player and a Dukes of Hazzard-style air horn. But of course, at 100 miles to the gallon (about three times more efficient than his old car), Craig's got plenty of spare cash to lavish on his three-wheeled beauty.

With a top speed of about 50mph and improved fuel consumption, he's managing to save around Β£1,400 on his annual 12,000 mile commute between Swavesey and Milton - and with traffic congestion the way it is, the tuk-tuk journey takes the same amount of time as it used to in his car.

However, Craig maintains that his tuk-tuk gets him more attention than any sports car ever would and "it's the most fun vehicle I've ever driven".

He brought the tuk-tuk into the studios here at Βι¶ΉΤΌΕΔ Radio Cambridgeshire, and took breakfast presenter Jeremy Sallis for a spin. You can listen to Craig talking about pimping up his tuk-tuk here:

And watch a short Look East video showing the tuk-tuk in action here: