Skodas - the butt of many a motoring joke - can no longer be bought new in Bradford.

The city's only Skoda dealership, the Spenboro Motor Company in Birkenshaw, has closed down after 36 years and gone into receivership.

Doug Patterson, who helped found the company in Bradford Road with brother George in the mid-1960s, said today a reluctance among the public to buy new cars had finished off his firm.

He said: "People aren't buying because they believe prices of new cars are going to come crashing down.

"We've sold thousands of cars and we've seen the cars change so much over the years.

"The jokes about Skodas being unreliable just aren't true. They're built to withstand Czech winters and when there was deep snow it was often only our mechanics who would be on the roads."

The company lost its Skoda franchise on December 17 and had been running down its stock until going into liquidation in mid-January. Drivers hoping to buy a new Skoda must now travel to Keighley, Halifax or Leeds.

Mr Patterson had taken full control of the business two years ago when brother George retired.

He said it had become difficult to get new cars from Skoda and the company and the cars had changed since Volkswagen took over the marque in 1991.

Administrator Andrew Steel, of Eddisons Commercial, said the site with its showroom and workshop could be sold as a car dealership.

Eddisons has also been in talks with Kirklees Council planning officers who said the three-quarter acre plot, valued at £200,000, could be used for light industry.

A spokesman for Skoda UK said the company hoped to have a dealership in Bradford by the end of the year.

Cleckheaton rally driver Bob Bean, who entered his Skoda Felicia in last year's Network Q Rally of Great Britain, said he was sad to hear of the dealership's demise.

He said: "My car's terrific, it's just so strong. Quite a few are used for rallying and if they don't finish it's because they crash, they rarely break."

l Highline Performance Cars, next door to Spenboro Motors, has also closed down.

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