Visitors to the Exmoor National Park could soon take a tour of the area in a car dating back to the Second World War.

Richard Growden used to run Discovery Safaris from Porlock, taking small parties on educational tours around the national park in a customised Land Rover, along with occasional proms and weddings.

After his business folded during the coronavirus pandemic, the former soldier applied to run a similar operation using a restored black 1939 Morris 12/4, formerly used by RAF officers.

Somerset West and Taunton Council has granted him a licence to run these tours after receiving assurances that it met modern standards for private hire vehicles.

Mr Growden, who lives in the Porlock area, presented his case to a meeting of the council’s licensing sub-committee in Taunton on Wednesday afternoon (August 17).

He said: “Fuel prices have risen sharply, and the cost of maintaining the Land Rover and other financial aspects brought into question the viability of my business venture.

“I didn’t want to see the end of what I had built up over a period of time – that being a great knowledge of Exmoor National Park, being expressed to one and all.

“The Morris was used by two RAF officers who were stationed in Huddersfield throughout the Second World War. They used it to transport themselves from their living accommodation to the airfield.

“I want to take people over Exmoor National Park and tell them about Exmoor like I have done over the past 15 years – except, of course for the off-roading.”

Mr Growden said the car, nicknamed Harold, had recently passed an MOT – which he said was "no mean feat" and met all the standards of a modern taxi or private hire vehicle.

He described Harold as a car that “drives without fault, pulls up in a straight line and has a real vintage feel to it”,

The car had been given to a museum at the end of the war and remained until the site closed in the mid-1960s, after which it was purchased by a private collector.

The car will be able to transport two passengers at a time, with the front passenger seat being used to store photographs, literature and other equipment for the tours.

Councillor Janet Lloyd, who chaired the meeting, said: "Good luck with the venture – I hope it goes well."