Speed king breaks 300mph barrier

Engineer Colin Farrows has smashed the British land speed record with a 300mph run in his jet-propelled car.

Mr Fallows shattered his own previous 269mph record in his Vampire car just two hours after his colleague Mark Newby recorded a speed of 272mph at Elvington airfield, near York.

The pair had been working together to break the 300mph barrier and made several attempts in their two cars, Vampire and Split Second, throughout Wednesday morning.

But Mr Fallows, 50, from Northamptonshire, clocked the quickest official time, recorded as 300.30mph over two timed quarter-mile stretches.

Despite being the first to reach 300mph on British soil, Mr Fallows, who owns the engineering company which built the two cars, hopes to set even faster times in the future.

The 30-foot car is powered by a Rolls-Royce engine taken from a Red Arrow aeroplane and can accelerate from a standing start to 272mph in six seconds.

He made four record attempts getting closer to the 300mph mark each time.

His final attempt earned rapturous applause from the crowd as he pushed the average of his best two times over the 300mph barrier.

From a standing start he travelled along the two-mile stretch and stopped with the help of parachutes in less than 20 seconds.