AN unwelcome return to wintry weather put the brakes on a display of monster trucks and dazzling stunts.

But sleet and falling temperatures failed to stop a show of muscular motors in Burnley last night and hundreds of hardy onlookers braved the elements for the chance to catch a glimpse of some seriously spectacular steel giants.

The show, part of a national tour which ends in September, included a car-crushing finale, with the monster trucks taking turns to grind lesser motors into the ground.

With names like Gladiator, Castrol Crusher and Miami Thunder, and 66in high combined harvester tyres, these giants brought a new meaning to the term road rage.

The event at Fulledge Recreation Ground started with a parade of motorbikes, cars and the real crowd-pullers, the monster trucks.

Next came stunts including riding through a circle of flame and tilting a car on to two wheels before the trucks took turns in driving over five cars in a row. The wet weather failed to stop the spectacular display by the 15ft high creations.

The trucks, specially converted Chevrolets and a Ford, have V8 engines and run on either petrol or a volatile methanol mixture.

Drivers Steven Flaherty, Keith Andrews, Ashley Beer, Mark Glover, Graham Forder, Colin Snell, "John Boy" and "Psycho the Clown" put on an evening of entertainment that had the crowds forgetting the dismal conditions.

Steven said: "It doesn't matter what the conditions are like, nothing stops these motors. There's a lot of work gone into converting them and they go over those cars like they're not there.

"We have a competition between the drivers and the one who gets the most applause from the crowds is the winner."

From Burnley, the show went on to Bury before winding its way around the country.

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