RALLY cars are built for one purpose - you put your foot down on the accelerator and go as fast as you can.

They are the source of Chester man Colin Ridgway's dream job, but it was a dream that turned into a medical nightmare when he was told his employment could leave him seriously disabled.

Colin has a fast-lane philosophy where U-turns aren't an option - his philosophy on rally cars is straight and to the point - the driver puts his foot down, the navigator tells him what's around the corner and the mechanic repairs the damage when either gets it wrong.

At the age of five he developed a fascination with cars; at 15 he was serving an apprenticeship in mechanical engineering, with a weekend hobby of fixing rally cars.

He said: 'I love working on rally cars, stripping them down and rebuilding them so people can drive them as fast as they can go - that's the point to these cars, they are like racehorses.'

Everything seemed on course - he was in his dream job working with cars in a garage in Chester, but Colin couldn't have imagined what was around the corner four years ago when doctors gave him a stark warning - give up cars or face a permanent disability.

It was a car crash in 1989, when he was 19, that started his back problems, and a combination of the injuries sustained after he swerved off the road and years of stooping over engines narrowed his fifth vertebrae.

Matters came to a head in 2000 when one morning he couldn't get out of bed.

Colin said: 'I had to go to the Countess of Chester Hospital. I had physio there and from GPs. My back was very painful. I couldn't get out of bed or the bath. I had to get help. I was given intensive physio and painkillers and I was advised my profession was causing more pain and it was now impossible for me to do that kind of work.

'I was devastated as it was the only thing I have ever done - ever since I was a child I was racing karts, working on anything to do with engines.'

Prevented from doing conventional garage work as stretching up to reach cars on ramps resulted in searing pain in his back, he went through a bleak four years on Incapacity Benefit and a handful of jobs.

But last year Colin hit on the idea of preparing and servicing rally cars, on and off the track - something he had done as a hobby. His ingenious solution to achieving his dream was quite simple: prop the cars on axle stands so he didn't bend his back, knowing that as long as he kept his back straight he wouldn't be damaging it.

He said: 'When I couldn't work for anyone else I decided the best thing to do was to turn my hobby into a business. Rally cars are stripped and serviced on axle stands one foot off the floor, and that suits me perfectly.'

Colin approached Chester agency InBiz and embarked on a course to set up his own business last year, and he hasn't looked back since.

Nick James, InBiz operations manager for Cheshire, said: 'Colin undertook a work-based learning programme so he could accrue his benefits in the crucial start-up phase of his business. He was absolutely determined to succeed.

'He has an obvious passion for his craft, and is working extremely hard to build up his business.'

Colin said: 'I'd never taken charge of a business before, so getting to grips with skills including VAT, cash-flow and book-keeping - was vital. And I was even given advice about the legal implications of securing premises.'

He set up his own firm in January, called Ridgway Motorsport and based in Sandycroft, and prepares cars for national rally drivers taking part in the most prestigious events on the racing calendar.

His top client is Chelmsford driver Paul Green, formerly of Saughall, a hot favourite to win the British Trials Rally Drivers' Association National Championship.

Colin tours with his clients around the national rally circuit and said: 'I work closely with the driver and co-drivers/navigators.

'They read from page notes, which are often in shorthand, and go through all the points of the course. The navigator does more than telling the driver what is around the corner - he's telling the driver what comes after that.

'Obviously we have to be on hand when there are crashes, that's what we do.'

He added: 'Only last weekend one of the cars hit a sandstone wall on the Somerset course and it was quite badly damaged; the suspension, the cross member needed to be repaired.

'You get to travel all over the world with this sport. I have been to Germany, Belgium, Italy, Ireland. You're always on the move. Last weekend I was in Somerset, before that Dolgellau and Brecon and the next course is at Swansea.'

With two clients on the books, the mechanic's future is clear and all he wants to do is be a success and help his friend and colleague Paul Green past the winning post.

'In the end, all I want to do is make a name for myself,' said Colin. 'I could have sat at home quite easily for the rest of my life and claimed Incapacity Benefit but it would have driven me mental - I am doing a job I love.'