News that a tool manufacturer is to stop producing its cast iron bulldog mascots sent businessman Brian Hartley barking mad.

For Mr Hartley, who organises the annual Bulldog Trophy event for off-road driving enthusiasts from around the country, converts the garden ornaments into distinctive trophies for his winners.

So when he heard that Record Tools was ceasing production of the mascot for its Bulldog range of tools, he immediately bought up its entire remaining stock.

And he has even asked the company to make a final batch of the bulldogs specially for him.

Mr Hartley, who runs Mirfield-based Club Off Road, which provides off-road driving training at a purpose-built wooded course on the edge of Bradford as well as adventure holidays for 4x4 enthusiasts at locations throughout Europe, said: "I had a bit of a panic when I found out they were going to stop making them because you can't get anything else quite like it anywhere else.

"I decided to stockpile them and have now got enough to keep us going for another four years - I've also put in a special plea for the company to make me some more before they dismantle the mould.''

Mr Hartley buys his bulldogs from Record Tools stockist Jack Pennington, in Shipley, strips them of their bright blue paint and then lacquers them before draping them in a mini Union flag and mounting them on a wooden plinth together with a plaque.

He got the idea after spotting one of the bulldogs - whose image appears on the Record Tools' range of Bulldog tools - in the window of a hardware store shortly after launching his Bulldog Trophy event in 1994.

He said: "It was just what I was looking for, and although they're not on general sale and it was really there as a mascot to advertise the tools, after three visits I managed to persuade the owner to sell it to me. They make perfect trophies for our event and what better keepsake for the winners of the Bulldog Trophy than a bulldog?''

This year's Bulldog Trophy saw 80 people in 40 4x4s negotiating a 160-mile course in Scotland and tackling a variety of tasks including getting vehicles over fallen trees using winches and dangerous night driving.

Mr Hartley, 49, said: "They're much sought after by the people who enter the event and winners really cherish them because they're so unusual.''

Chris Simpson, managing director of Jack Pennington, said: "Most of our customers prefer to buy practical items rather than decorative ones but they do look very impressive and make ideal keepsakes.''