A SPEEDBOAT powered by a hearse engine gave victory in a TV challenge to a Basingstoke man's team.

The Rusty Regiment, captained by Bob Lindsell, 50, of Sperrin Close, Buckskin, had to build a speedboat from junk and pilot it back and forth across a lake in the latest episode of Scrapheap Challenge, shown on Channel 4 on Sunday.

Mr Lindsell, and team-mates Mario Aliperti, 47, from Sandhurst, and Paul Dorgan, 55, from Wokingham, made the boat out of eight oil barrels and a piece of metal from a lorry cab, and it was powered by a V6 engine from a hearse.

The friends, who like to restore military vehicles in their spare time, scavenged their trash from a scrapyard in Bramley, where the programme is filmed, before leaving rivals the Somerset Scramblers in their wake on a lake in Reading.

Mr Lindsell said: "When we were told we had to build a speedboat our first response was that this was not what we were used to.

"But we just threw ourselves into it and, in the end, it was the fastest speedboat they have ever had on Scrapheap Challenge."

Mr Lindsell put his team's success down to the advice of on-hand expert John Fuller, who recommended that the team should fix a sharp piece of metal along the bottom of the boat to break water tension.

He said: "It was a learning experience for us. The information that John Fuller gave us helped us to win."

But, despite the victory, the programme marked the last appearance on the show for team member Mr Aliperti.

Mr Lindsell said: "It came across on the programme that he was slow and not getting involved, but actually he was ill.

"We did not realise how ill he was but, two days later, he was in hospital with suspected kidney failure."

The Rusty Regiment - with a new team member - are scheduled to appear in the next round of Scrapheap Challenge, on Channel 4, on June 29.