A couple have spent months transforming a historic car in tribute to their ancestors who drove a similar model more than 80 years ago.

Otley couple Robert and Lorraine Midgley have rebuilt a Ford Model T which lay derelict in a shed in Bingley for years.

Robert's great-grandfather used to own a similar model in the 1920s on his coal merchants round in Pool-in-Wharfedale.

Robert, 42, an engineer, now plans to show off the vehicle at a competition to celebrate Ford's centenary.

Mrs Midgley said: "We are very much into old cars but it was the memory of Robert's great-grandfather which prompted this idea.

"We have a photograph of him with the vehicle in the 1920s. Before that his great-grandfather had a horse and cart.

"We don't know much about the car's history. We know it was an ambulance used by the Royal Navy and we know it was based in Bingley for many years before it was bought by a company in Buckinghamshire and we bought it from them."

Ford Model T cars were famous for being available in "any colour as long as it's black," according to Ford's founder Henry Ford, but this model is maroon.

Robert, who normally drives a Mitsubishi pick-up, estimates that it will be valued at about £10,000 when the revamp is completed.

It will be one of more than 40 restored Ford Model Ts at a competition at the Haynes Motor Museum near Yeovil in Somerset on May 31 and June 1. The model declared the best restored vehicle will win £5,000 for its owner.

Entrants have come from as far afield as Orkney and Cornwall and include a Church of Scotland minister, a scientist researching nanotechnology, a father-and-daughter team, a stone mason and a marine surveyor. The Model T Challenge is just one of many activities which will celebrate Ford's 100th anniversary this year.

The Model Ts being restored include Tourers, Depot vehicles, one ton trucks, pick-ups, town cars and at least one racer. The majority of them were bought either in completely derelict condition, or as a collection of rusty parts.

Most have been restored in garden sheds or garages, with professional help called in only for major engineering and machining tasks.

The competition was the idea of Neil Tuckett, whose company Tuckett Brothers of North Marston, Buckinghamshire, supplied basic unrestored vehicles and original components to entrants for a cost not exceeding £3,000.

Neil has been collecting, restoring and selling Model T Fords on his farm since 1984.

The judges will not be looking for restoration to concours standard - anything from a rolling chassis with tax and MoT up to a "factory gate" standard car will be eligible for a prize, as long as it represents an authentic Model T at some stage of its working life.