A MOTOR racing fan and a teenager with cystic fibrosis this week spoke about their nightmare journey to reach the British Grand Prix.

Martin Phillips, of Otley, and Imran Afzal were looking forward to a dream day out last Sunday after Otley-based charity Hang On To A Dream paid £210 each for some of the last remaining grandstand tickets overlooking the finishing line.

But Mr Phillips and 18-year-old Imran - who has serious breathing difficulties and needs daily medical treatment - ended up walking seven miles through gridlocked traffic to get to the race track in time for the start.

Mr Phillips was representing the charity, which was treating cystic fibrosis sufferer Imran to the trip of a lifetime.

But when the avid Grand Prix fans ran into the much-publicised traffic jams which prevented many people from getting near Silverstone, they were faced with a seven-mile, three-hour walk to get to the track.

Mr Phillips, of South Parade, said: "Our taxi got to three miles outside Towcester at about 8am and were met by two lanes of solid traffic going nowhere. I have seen heavy traffic before, but not stationary like that, it was unbelievable.

"We put the radio on and heard about the horrendous problems and decided to leave the taxi and walk it, rather than mess about.

"The lad would have been devastated to miss it. We were walking through standstill traffic with thousands of other fans and there was a constant stream of people.

"We got there about 11am - three hours later," the 35-year-old racing fanatic added.

"It was OK for me because I'm used to walking, but Imran obviously wasn't. He did very well and coped with the help of medication, but he was tired."

Roads around the Northamptonshire track were closed because car parks were reaching capacity and traffic had nowhere to go.

Imran told the Wharfedale Observer: "I was very tired at the end of the walk, but I was so excited at being there that I forgot about my health.

"When I saw the traffic I did not think I was going to get there and when we started walking, I didn't think we had a chance but we got there in the end.

"There was no way I was going to miss it."

The 18-year-old, from Great Horton, Bradford, added: "It was a tiring day but worth it. Just looking at the cars and hearing the noise they made was the best. It was a dream come true to go to Silverstone, especially to see Michael Schumaker, who is my hero."

Imran was accompanied by his friend Masser Zeb, also 18. He added that the irony was that the taxi driver made it to the track an hour-and-a-half later and did not miss the start of the Grand Prix.

Nigel Francis, who runs Hang On To a Dream, said that he would be writing to Schumaker's Ferrari team to see if they could donate any merchandise to Imran to compensate for his inconvenience.

"After all, Imran idolises Schumaker," he said.

A spokesman for Silverstone was unavailable for comment.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.