Rover and out but we'll be back - Stafford brothers scuppered in attempt to drive from London to Cape Town

A shattered chassis and a painstaking wait at the border of Angola have scuppered a commendable attempt by two Stafford brothers to drive from London to Cape Town in less than ten days - which would have been a world record.

Stepbrothers Paul Hanson, 26, and George Coleman, 24, had spent £10,000 kitting out their Land Rover ready for the epic excursion.

But in the end their plucky 4x4 bit the dust on the 'home stretch' in Windhoek, Namibia, 1,000 miles from the pair's target.

"It took us 9,000 miles and 5,500 of those were with a broken chassis," said Paul.

It had all started so well.

After departing on January 15 the pair had made a positive start to their journey, blasting through Europe in next to no time.

But as soon as the duo hit Senegal on Day 3 the state of the roads took their toll.

The Land Rover's chassis completely snapped and the brothers had to limp the car ten miles to a nearby village where they miraculously found someone to weld it together.

They got it going again but after suffering the punishing routes in Nigeria it broke again in Cameroon.

"Nigeria had horrible roads," Said Paul. "The place was just weird. It had lots of potholes and lots of people driving on your side of the road.

"It was just a free for all."

A second repair only took them so far and the chassis snapped for a third time requiring another weld in Congo.

It left the ten-day target hanging by a thread but the delays meant they hit the Angolian border on a Sunday when it was closed which resulted in a 23-hour wait before they could enter the country - it proved to be the final nail in the coffin for the record attempt.

But the brothers ploughed on at least hoping to finish the journey in their Land Rover only for the prop shaft to snap in Namibia, bringing an end to their travels by road.

The pair had to catch a flight from Windhoek to Cape Town, where they met up with their family, as they had always intended.

Paul said: "We have learned so much about the world, different people, different cultures and ourselves.

"That's before you even think about how much we have learned about mechanics.

"We were always fighting the tide really, the car was more than 15 years old and ever since we broke the chassis in Senegal, things got increasingly difficult.

"We did feel a little bit disappointed at first but now I think it is better to think of what a great achievement our journey was.

"It was unbelievable and looking back, I am incredibly proud.

"We fought Africa and she won."

He has now vowed that the attempt has only whetted his appetite for future ambitious journeys.

"We may have fell short this time but it has given us so many ideas of places we want to see. This has opened a door for us and we want to try and make a name for ourselves now.

"We will be back."

But regardless of whether their next trip is Cape Town or Carlisle one thing is for sure that it will not be in the Land Rover. They have left it with relatives in Africa for it to be stripped and sold off for parts showing little sentiment for their four-wheeled companion.

"I was attached to it in the beginning but when it kept breaking I wanted to burn it," said Paul.

"I actually became detached from it."