Billy Gibbons on Mirror Online

Billy Gibbons is now featured on Mirror Online. The national newspaper's website says:

Rocket Man: Meet the eccentric villager who uses a converted 1950s fairground ride to beat traffic

Billy Gibbons, 58, beats the traffic by driving a rocket around his village – and he's also converted his house into a shrine to the 1950s.

Bonkers Billy Gibbons never has to worry about getting stuck in traffic – because he drives around town in a converted rocket.

Billy, 58, leaves passers-by in Audlem, Cheshire, stunned as he shoots past them in his converted 1950s children's fairground ride.

And he's so obsessed with everything '50s, he's even converted his entire house into a shrine to the decade.

He picked up the rocket, previously used as a prop at a shoe shop in Congleton, at a closing-down sale 15 years ago and couldn't believe his luck.

Rocket man: Billy beats the traffic by riding his converted fairground ride

He said: "Any man can have a model rocket but not everyone can drive to the shops in one!"

The professional entertainer set to work on his galactic purchase, putting it on wheels and installing a lawnmower engine to drive it on the roads near his home.

But police almost put the brakes on Billy's rocket after he was pulled over and told his car wasn't legal.

That didn't stop Billy though, who removed the lawnmower engine and mounted the rocket on a mobility scooter – so now he can happily drive his rocket to the shops.

He said: "I love my rocket. It makes routine trips to the shops so much more entertaining.

"I'm a man of the space-age generation, I was born in the '50s and grew up in a world that was obsessed with space so I'm literally living the dream with my rocket."

Eccentric: Billy, a 1950s obsessive, is a popular figure in his village

Billy is a popular figure in his local village and is often seen collecting his groceries in his unique rocket car.

Sometimes, however, people assume the worst in Billy's quirks. He said: "My friends just say I'm eccentric but I do get some strange looks from people who don't know me."

Each to their own, Billy.

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