DOZENS of Commer vans from across the country converged on North Yorkshire for Commerfest.

Fans of the iconic van which – is perhaps best known in its yellow, British Telecom guise – from across the country to gather at Biggin, near Sherburn-in-Elmet to celebrate the 50th birthday of the vintage British vehicles as well as the fifth birthday of the Commer Van Fan club.

Many of the vans have now been converted to campers with the former York firm Hughes and Gooby, being a principle converter.

Commer van fan Martin Maltas, who organised the weekend’s festival, said you could always tell which Commer vans had been converted to campers in York as they had no rear doors.

Mr Maltas, who lives in Biggin and has 25 of the vans, said: “They’re an alternative to the VWs and they are British.

“The VWs had the limelight for a long time, but we’re now trying to get out there and tell people what these vans are all about and that they are better than the German vans.

“A lot of people are interested as they are cheaper than the VWs.

“For me personally it started as my father worked on the TV detector vans and the one he worked on came up for sale and I thought it would be good to restore it.”

As well as celebrating the Commer, Mr Maltas and his wife, Karen, were also raising cash for breast cancer charities. She is now in remission after two years fighting the illness.