A RETIRED schoolteacher today told how he faces a 'David and Goliath' lawsuit with American motoring giant Ford.

Vic Tucker, a pensioner from Hollin Hill, Burnley, is locked in a legal battle with the car company which owns the prestigious Jaguar marque after registering jaguarF1racing.com as an internet web site earlier this year.

Mr Tucker, 65, said he bought the domain for £44.65 in good faith and intended to post a site on the web giving information about Jaguar's recently formed Formula One team, including details of races, results and the performances of celebrity drivers Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert.

But Ford have ordered him to return the web site and pay a $3,000 (£2,040) penalty or face a claim for damages of $100,000 (£68,000) in the American courts for infringing their trademark.

The company's lawyers said they began legal action after they discovered Mr Tucker's site was being auctioned to the highest bidder on American auction website greatdomains.com.

Mr Tucker, who is married with children and grandchildren, said he was "absolutely shattered" by the news and that he only sent the site to Great Domains to be valued for his own interest.

He said he did not have any intention of selling the site and was unaware the company, which did not reply to his valuation request, had put it up for sale.

Mr Tucker has written to the president of Ford Motors in Detroit, appealing to him to drop the case and offering to return the site.

He said: "I'm quite happy for them to have it.I never intended to do anything wrong.

"I had it valued for my own interest but Great Domains never replied. I didn't know it was up for auction as I never intended to sell it."

"I don't know what will happen. My wife and I receive a pension each as well as a small teacher's pension but we have not got this kind of money and we cannot afford lawyers to help us fight this case. I feel completely helpless." Ford are using their huge financial muscle and I could lose everything, including my home.

"It's not even a case of David and Goliath -- it's Goliath and the ant."

Before retirement Mr Tucker, a classic car enthusiast, worked as a technology teacher at Barden High School, Burnley, and later as a supply teacher at Nelson's Primet and Walton secondary schools as well as at Crosshills Special School, Blackburn, and Broadfield Special School, Oswaldtwistle.

He drives a second hand Ford Escort and is renovating a 1954 Daimler Lanchester and a 1955 Daimler Conquest he rescued from a farmer's field and has sent Ford photographs of the work as proof of his genuine interest in the marque.

Mr Tucker went on: "I like Formula One and I have an interest in Jaguar and Daimler cars. When I registered the name I gave the company all my details, my name, address, 'phone number and email. I wouldn't have done that if I was up to no good."

"I haven't tried to hide anything. No one told me I was doing anything illegal, said Mr Tucker. My interest was to develop a site to publicise the exploits of the team.

"I feel like they are coming after me. If they had written to me about this, informing me I was doing something wrong, I would have given it to them straight away.

"Now I feel like my life is in their hands. All I can hope for is a favourable response from the president of Ford.

"This is a total sickener and especially as it was done in good faith. I could lose everything but I hope it won't come to that. The problem is they're so big and powerful they can do whatever they want."

Gregory Philips, a partner in American law firm Howard, Philips, Andersen, said that Mr Tucker was sent the letter after jaguarF1racing.com was found on Great Domains.

He said 121 people were found to be auctioning domain names containing the Ford and Jaguar trademarks on the site, which is illegal under American consumer protection law.

Mr Philips said: "We think it is unfair that people should try to cash in on Ford and Jaguar's good work which has cost billions of dollars to build up.

"We have had a lot of people who have acknowledged their mistake and paid $3,000 to get themselves out of the law suit. The law suit is being taken very seriously and if Mr Tucker had set up the site in good faith then he shouldn't have been auctioning it to the highest bidder."

Domain names are effectively web addresses that can be purchased from an internet service provider.

Once registered, the domain will come up via internet search engines where users key in recognised words.

Anyone who wants to buy and register a domain can do so as long as it is still available and they only need internet access to set one up.

Once someone has bought a domain they can build a website or pay someone to build it for them, or they can just keep hold of the name and do nothing.

Nigel Vause, director of internet service provider UKline.com, explained: "Imagine you are asking a librarian for a book.

"You ask search engines like Yahoo! or Google to do the same.

"The domain is like a telephone number, only because the internet recognises words, it works that way instead. So you could type in Marks and Spencer or something like that.

"What you have to be careful of is copyright and using company trademarks. Of course it depends on what you class as trademark.

"For example, Hoover is a trademark but is also a generic term."