A ‘Tuk Tuk’ has hit the streets of Blackburn and comes complete with a state-of-the-art sound system and illuminations.

The auto rickshaw has a top speed of 42mph and is believed to be the only one in Blackburn. It was brought to the UK from India by Mohammed Mudassar.

Muhammed, known to many as Muddy, is hoping the vehicle will be a novel way for people to arrive at weddings and other special occasions.

Muddy said, “It is not your normal average run of the mill rickshaw. As you can see we wanted to make it stand out a bit from the crowd and ‘pimped’ it out a bit.

“It comes complete with an array of flashing lights and a sound system which can be heard and seen from a distance. For a small vehicle it really makes an impact.

“I wanted something different and I thought it would be good for the streets of Blackburn.

“I think people might like the idea of arriving in a Tuk Tuk or just going for a ride on a special occasion.”

Lancashire Telegraph:

The auto rickshaw is a motorised version of the pulled rickshaw or cycle rickshaw which are popular across South and East Asia. Bajaj Auto of Pune, India is the world's largest auto rickshaw manufacturer, selling 780,000 a year. The cycle rickshaw is also popular in central London and used by tourists.

Muddy said, “I will be driving this myself and it carries three passengers. The ones in India are cheaper of course but getting this here is the difficult and expensive bit. Also, we have to have seat belts!"

Muddy who also possesses a disco minibus van has helped to display Covid Safety messages during the lockdown in April on his digital van, “As well as a mobile disco van I have a large truck which displays digital messages and when lockdown happened we wanted to help get the NHS messages out.

“We displayed the messages for free.”

Muddy says he will be parked outside the In Car Hi-fi store on Preston New Road this Saturday September 19 for anyone wanting a ride at £2 per person.

Muddy added, "All passengers must wear a mask and the vehicle will be cleaned after each ride."