LEEMING Bar engineer David Mitchell is showing that clapped-out old Minis which have reached the end of a long road can have a useful after-life.

Give him the cannabalised engine and front sub-frame of a Mini and he will reinvigorate the remains by turning them into a trike.

In a neat reversal of roles, the former Mini components become the rear of the born-again machine, married to a new central frame made from hollow tube, plus front motorcycle forks.

Mr Mitchell's one-man company, Austin Engineering, is one of the more unusual businesses on Leeming Bar industrial estate, where it has taken him five years to reach the stage of building a complete Mini-based trike.

It is fully fit for public roads and 42-year-old Mr Mitchell travels on it from his Thirsk home to his workshop unit on Progress Row, where he has another under construction and a specimen hollow tube frame for inspection by interested visitors.

He used to have a workshop in Thirsk, where he got the idea for his trike from two men who tried to build one from scrapped cars but never managed to finish it.

His original idea was to produce a set of plans from which people could build their own trikes but he gradually moved into making a frame and then a complete machine.

Today the choice is down to the individual trike enthusiast. He can buy a set of plans for £80 and start completely from scratch if he has the skill and the equipment.

A halfway house is offered with a basic frame for £1,200, leaving the buyer to scour scrapyards, auto jumble sales or other sources for the appropriate parts from Minis and motorcycles.

Those with little or no engineering skill but with a little cash to spare can get Mr Mitchell to build a complete machine for about £4,000.

Mr Mitchell, formerly a keen motorcyclist and a self-employed engineer for 15 years, has almost 30 visitors a day from all over the world to his web site, www.austintrike.com.

He has also had an inquiry from a man whose right leg has been amputated, asking whether modifications could be made to the clutch to suit the disabled.

The 1000cc Mini engine propels the two-seat trike at up to 90mph and returns about 40 miles to the gallon.

Mr Mitchell said he chose a Mini engine and front sub-frame because he found the weight distribution was just right for the steering.

"I have kept the design nice and basic so that you could use the trike every day for going to work or just for a fun run out," he said. "It has caused more interest among the older generation, maybe because it is a Mini engine and they remember the little cars.

"People are looking for something different and there is a huge amount of interest in trikes, which seem to be big business in the South.

"In the case of my machine, it can be as cheap or as expensive as you want, depending on how you choose to go about it, and you can drive it on a car or motorbike licence.