Once the butt of a thousand jokes and a commercial flop, the Sinclair C5 electric car finally came into its own at an auction in Ilkley.

Sir Clive Sinclair's cars sold for between £350 and £400 when they came on to the market 15 years ago, but one of the vehicles fetched £500 when it came under the hammer.

A collection of nine Sinclair C5s was sold through the spring and toy sale run by Andrew Hartley Fine Arts.

The vehicles - which Sir Clive had hoped would revolutionise the transport habits of the nation - were originally bought by a Hull businessman and were entered in the sale by a receiver in bankruptcy from the Hull area.

One of the C5s - a low plastic tricycle built around a washing machine motor - was sold for £500 to a local businessman with the other eight fetching between £210 and £420.

A spokesman for Andrew Hartley said the £420 car was sold to a retired man from Lincolnshire whose own C5 was "clapped out after 15 years'' and needed replacing.

Another was sold to a man from Bingley who bought it for his grandchildren.

Meanwhile the sale itself generated a total of almost £33,000 from 470 lots.

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