A MYSTERY buyer paid cash for a vintage tractor as a Christmas present for his father but never returned to collect it. That was eight months ago and the tractor is still sitting in a Haddenham shed waiting to be claimed. Owner Mike Dyson put the machine

A MYSTERY buyer paid cash for a vintage tractor as a Christmas present for his father but never returned to collect it.

That was eight months ago and the tractor is still sitting in a Haddenham shed waiting to be claimed.

Owner Mike Dyson put the machine up for sale last September in Tractor and Machinery magazine.

He had used the 1954 Nuffield tractor for the past 12 years to pull his vintage steam engine in and out of its shed.

His advert, however, failed to draw any interest and he forgot about selling the tractor.

Three months later, a man in his 40s, who said he was from Littleport, telephoned and made an appointment to call at his home in Nelsons Lane, Haddenham.

He told Mike that he wanted the tractor as a Christmas present for his father who would restore it, and handed over £450 in cash.

"It's in a poor state and needs to be properly restored," said Mike. "It's looking really sad and I made that clear in the advert. But it's quite a collector's item. The man paid in cash and I gave him the log book and filled in my part of it. That was the last I saw of him. Now I don't know what to do."

Mike believes the buyer may have some connection with a garage repair business.

In an attempt to trace him Mike took his case to Ely police. They made enquiries and discovered that the log book had never been received by the Driver Vehicle Licensing Centre in Swansea.

"I don't know where to go from here in tracing this man," said Mike. "It's a real mystery."

INFO: If you have any information, contact the Ely Standard newdesk on 01353 667831.