A FIRE engine which was to have made an extraordinary journey to the Afghan capital of Kabul finally left North Yorkshire on Monday, bound for a different destination thousands of miles away.

The 12-year-old former Merseyside machine bought with the help of Harrogate Rotary Club was to have become the first purpose-built fire engine in war-torn Kabul.

It is being crewed by retired Harrogate businessman and charity worker John Shackleton; Eric Kent, an engineer with North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service from Thirn, near Thornton Watlass; David Ward-Campbell, a Harrogate bank worker; and Carl Sobota, a former North Yorkshire firefighter now living in County Durham.

At the last moment, however, they were forced to change their destination to the former Soviet republic of Georgia after official fears were expressed about their safety in Afghanistan.

The group was due to leave for Kabul 18 days ago along a route that would have taken them through Turkey and Iran, but their departure had to be postponed when it was found that Mr Sobota, who stepped in at the last moment because of a crew change, did not have a valid Iranian visa.

Securing the outstanding document involved a personal visit by Mr Shackleton to the Iranian Embassy in London, but the group's destination then had to be changed after the Foreign Office intervened.

The group finally decided to make a 4,000-mile trek to Georgia, where the authorities desperately need a fire engine.