WITH a flick of the wheel and a grab of the handbrake, 21-year-old Paul Swift can put the rest of us to shame.

He can slot his Mini into a parking space with only a foot or so to spare while, to the average motorist, it can mean minutes of shuffling backwards and forwards.

Weaving through cones at speed, or even a few hundred metres on two wheels are second nature. After all, he's been driving since he was seven.

But then he is the son of one of the UK's best-known stunt drivers, Russ Swift, and, this weekend, Paul competes for England in the Ken Wharton Memorial Auto Test Championship, in Alcester, Warwickshire.

It is his first national event at senior level and he will be up against the best driving talent Ireland, Wales and Scotland have to offer.

But he admits he is looking forward to the challenge: "My dad has held world records in the past and I'm aiming to follow in his tyre-treads," said Paul yesterday.

"He has been great in the past and I know he won't mind if I win some of his titles."

Paul's love of driving started when he used to drive around the fields near his home in Merrybent, on the edge of Darlington, in his father's old Astra van.

His skill was sufficient to persuade Vauxhall to build a half-sized Nova for him, so he could join his father on a touring stunt show backed by General Motors.

Since then, he has progressed to competition and won the Durham Auto Test Title at just 17.

Last year, he also took the Junior Championship at the British finals.

Paul stressed he keeps the stunts for show: "What I tell people is that driving competitively helps gets pent up aggression out of your system. I've taken an Institute of Advanced Driving test and I'd like to think I'm sensible and safe on the roads."