It was his dream car so far as motoring enthusiast, Brad Willis, was concerned, but he says that within a few days of buying the Peugeot 206 the vehicle became a nightmare.

Brad (22), of Cundell Way, Kings Worthy, says he paid £8,000 for the new car, from Southgate Peugeot, in St Cross Road, Winchester, in September, 2001.

He says that nine days later the car developed starting problems, "and has not been fixed properly", although the dealers strongly deny this.

Brad claims he has made weekly visits to the St Cross Road dealership due to the unreliability of his car and he says the ordeal is causing him stress.

He's a baker at Tesco in Easton Lane, Winnall and says he needs the car to get to and from work and the hours spent at the car dealers during the day are hours of lost sleep.

"This was my dream car. When the power steering goes it's like driving a tank, I don't feel safe driving it. I would not recommend Peugeot to anyone."

He says he has carried out modifications worth £5,000 to the car, which include a lowered suspension and "a state of the art stereo system."

Mark Franks, sales manager at Southgate Peugeot, said: "What has been said is completely untrue so I have no comment to make."