AN avid classic car collector fears he will not be able to drive out of his street when road humps are installed near his home.

Eddie Dicker says the "sleeping policemen" will be too high for his 1962 Ford Capri to drive over without being damaged.

Mr Dicker, aged 37, of York Avenue, Little Lever, fears his prized car will be trapped in the garage at his home.

Mr Dicker only realised the road humps had been given the go-ahead when workmen started marking out their positions in Redcar Road and Aintree Road.

He says the road humps are one-inch too high for the car and there is no way he will be able to avoid the speed humps sited on Aintree Road.

Mr Dicker said: "I am not particularly happy about the whole situation. The first time I knew about any speed humps being put on Redcar Road and Aintree Road was last Thursday when the council were marking the roads out.

"The council never even told us that they were putting any speed humps in. If they continue with this plan I will not be able to drive my car out of the street. I will be stuck."

Mr Dicker, who has spent more than £3,500 restoring the regency green Capri, said he would not be able to afford to make the changes needed to drive over the humps.

He said: "It would be just too expensive for me to make the changes. I do not have that kind of money."

Mr Dicker's father, Arthur, who has lived on York Avenue for 30 years, said that his son's car would not fit over the speed humps because the Capri needs a road clearance of four inches compared with the three inches allowed by a "sleeping policeman".

He said: "When I asked the council how he was going to get his car to and from the house, nobody had a clue and nobody seemed to care.

"It seems to me a waste of ratepayers' money putting 'sleeping policemen' where they are not needed."

A spokesman for Classic Motor Monthly magazine, based in Bolton, said that it was a common problem faced by classic car collectors.

"The authorities don't take into account the drivers who drive 40-year-old cars when they build speed humps."

But a spokesman for Bolton Council said that the road humps on Aintree Road and Redcar Road should not prevent Mr Dicker from driving his classic Capri out of his street.

The spokesman added: "These humps comply with national standards and will accommodate all types of vehicles when driven at appropriate speeds."