CAR dealer Reg Vardy is on the verge of clinching a handful of Land Rover dealerships from rival Dutton Forshaw, The Northern Echo can reveal.

The group is in advanced negotiations with the Bicester, Oxfordshire, company trying to seal the multi-million-pound deal.

It would mean that Land Rover dealerships in Stockton, Durham and Tyneside would join the Vardy stable.

Dutton Forshaw owns three other Land Rover specialists in Maidstone, in Kent, Preston, in Lancashire, and Aylesbury, in Buckinghamshire.

The Reg Vardy group has been fiercely acquisitive this year, with 11 dealerships snapped up already.

The Land Rover marque has been a prized asset.

In January, Reg Vardy paid Arriva £7.2m for two Perth dealerships - one Jaguar, one Land Rover - and a further Land Rover site in Cupar, Fife.

That was followed in May by the £4m acquisition of Land Rover and Jaguar dealerships, in Edinburgh, from Lancaster plc. A further six car showrooms for other marques were bought this year for more than £7.5m.

Reg Vardy also owns the former Appleyard Land Rover dealership in Edinburgh.

All Jaguar and Land Rover sites north of the border have been rebranded under the Rossleigh banner.

A Reg Vardy spokeswoman refused to comment on the deal but said: "We are growing all the time.

"This year, in particular, is a period of growth and we are always looking for favourable sites to acquire to grow the group even further."

It is understood that the deal with Dutton Forshaw will be clinched ahead of the October 1 block exemption introduction.

Block exemption laws are expected to change the face of motor retailing by preventing manufacturers from exercising a veto over who can act as authorised dealers.

Sir Peter Vardy, chief executive, believes his company is well placed to benefit from the new legislation and has made no secret of the fact that he will use this to his advantage as the firm pushes towards his goal of having 100 dealerships by April 2005.