Man buys a tank on impulse before realising he has nowhere to park it

A man who bought a seven-tonne tank on an on-line auction had to find a new place to live after realising he didn't have enough space to park it.

Jeff Woolmer, from Bristol, paid £9,000 for the CVRT Scorpion ex-Canadian army tank before he realised he had to move to a larger home to accommodate the vehicle.

The 44-year-old engineer said he bid for the tank, complete with a 75mm cannon on top of it, "on a whim" and forgot all about it until he got a call saying he had won the item.

At the time he was living in a two-bedroom flat with no parking and realised he would have to move.

His impulse buy has earned him the nickname 'Tank Man' locally.

Mr Woolmer said: "I'd forgotten all about it and then at work I had a call saying 'Hello sir you've just bought a tank. I was living in a flat at the time so we had to have a look around for a house with a nice bit of space to park the tank on the drive."

"It weighs about seven tonnes - which in terms of tanks is a little baby tank really," he added.

Mr Woolmer plans to spend a year restoring the tank, which could reach a speed of 50mph.

"The guns are all disarmed obviously but I do plan to try and get it running - once the batteries are charged we'll see if the electrics come to life and then try and start it up," said Mr Woolmer.