Two punctures proved the undoing of Baildon co-driver Joanne Lockwood and Cheshire's Stuart Hassall in the Wyedean Forest Rally.

They were comfortably placed second in class when they hit their first problem.

Joanne explained: "We came out of a left-hand bend three miles into stage six and the car seemed to be all over the road.

"Stuart said he thought we had a puncture but then the car seemed a little better. We got to the start of the next stage to find we had a slow puncture and decided to change it at the start."

The trouble didn't end there, though.

"Stuart was much happier and we went well through that stage. We were troubled by another puncture on stage eight again about three miles into the 8.5mile stage. This time the tyre was coming off the rim so Stuart had to be cautious but at the same time knowing the time we were losing.

"By the end of the stage we guessed we would have lost second place," added Joanne.

The event was the first round of the BTRDA with approximately 180 competing cars. The event started from the Forest of Dean Council Offices in the village of Coleford.

The BTRDA crew, recently sponsored by Motorpoint of Derby, had made a good start to the event and were happy with their performance by the midway point.

Stuart added: "It's disappointing when this happens but that's rallying. Hopefully on our next event we will be a little luckier!"

Despite their disappointment the crew felt they finished a well deserved third in class and 52nd overall.

The crew will now go into the Malcolm Wilson rally on March 3 hoping for another good result.