Driver ordered to remove 'dangerous' dog from car bonnet

Motorist, Raymond Smith, who has had a brass model of his dead pet dog on his car bonnet for 50 years has had to get rid of it due to health and safety fears. Since 1960 Mr Smith, from Gillingham, Dorset, has mounted the small model of his boxer dog Colonel on the front of every car he has owned.

The 86 year-old has driven all over Britain and Europe but has now been forced to remove the two-inch chrome-plated dog from his Fiat Panda after the police told him it was a danger to pedestrians and was illegal. He was told he faced a £50 fine and five penalty points if he ignored them.

Mr Smith, a retired mechanic and test driver for Fiat, had the model dog made in honour of Colonel which he and his wife Faye had as a pet in the 1950s. The object is attached firmly to the bonnet, he said, and is similar to the Rolls-Royce figurine. Mr Smith fixed the item onto about 50 cars he has owned over the years, including Sunbeam Rapiers, Ford Cortinas, a Lotus and a Jaguar.



He has had numerous minor accidents, all of which Colonel survived without a scratch. Mr Smith, a former amateur rally driver, said: "Nobody has taken any notice of it for 50 years, it was harmless. We got Colonel in 1949 and had him for about 10 years. I called him that because my sister had a Labrador called Major and so I wanted to go one better. He was such a lovable dog that when he died I sent a photo of him to this company in London and they made an exact model from the picture.

"Someone who I must have crossed swords with over parking or something has reported me to the police. They told them I had a dangerous dog on my car. I got a call from the police and I thought somebody was having me on. A traffic officer told me it was illegal as it was a potential danger to pedestrians and I had to get rid of it. It seems quite ridiculous."

PC Terry Swain, of Dorchester traffic police, said: "Objects on the bonnets of Mercedes and Rolls-Royces are designed to bend or come off in crashes. Fixed, solid objects on bonnets are a safety issue because they can cause increased injury to pedestrians if they were in a collision and rolled over the bonnet." Mr Smith, who has been driving since 1938, has now positioned Colonel on the parcel shelf on the back of his car.