Nidd Vale Group chairman Richard Jackson today offered a “substantial” reward following the theft of two classic rally cars from the company's Harrogate dealership.

The cars - a £50,000 1965 Porsche 911 belonging to Mr Jackson and a £12,000 1973 Ford Escort Mexico Mark 1 owned by his son Peter – were stolen during the night of Friday January 18. They were both specialist rallying cars.

Mr Jackson, who makes regular appearances at classic car rallies, said: “The Porsche in particular was much admired on the classic car circuit and I owned it for 10 years.”

The Porsche registration was FGX 911C, the Escort was 222 JPJ.