A Jaguar car that featured in the Inspector Morse series is up for sale again - after being bought for more than £50,000 and restored at a cost of about £80,000.

The sleek burgundy vehicle, voted the viewers' favourite in a nationwide poll, has been restored at a workshop in Staindrop, near Barnard Castle, County Durham.

Roger Tyrrell, manager of the David Royle workshop, said yesterday that the mark II model was now as perfect as the day it first went on the road in the 1960s with the registration plates 248 RPA.

Throughout the series it was seen as the pride and joy of Morse, played by John Thaw, and became famous in all the countries in which the show was screened.

Two years ago, it was bought at auction by a North-East property company. The work was under way when the property company ran into cash problems, so the car was put aside for several months. When receivers took over they said the restoration had to be completed.

The receivers have now put it on offer to sealed bids. Full details about it and how to bid can be seen on a website at www.morsejaguar.com

"We have worked on some historic and valuable vehicles in the last 40 years, but this is probably the most well-known," said Mr Tyrrell.