WASTE not want not, so the saying goes - but one Ryedale GP has taken recycling a step further.

Visitors to Dr Clive Diggory's home in Amotherby might think the knocker on the front door a bit unusual.

But not many realise what they've actually got hold of - because the space-age knocker is a replacement hip-joint.

Dr Diggory, of the Derwent Surgery, in Malton, said : "It's a prototype of a kind of hip repair that never went fully into production.

"It's made of high-quality stainless steel, and I just thought it seemed a good idea at the time."

He said: "Some people think it's a bit spooky, but most don't even realise what it really is."

The Ryedale GP kept the hip replacement from his days as a senior house doctor.

His replica D-type Jaguar also has a medical feel to it.

Dr Diggory said: "The gear stick is a different type of hip joint.

"It's called a Hastings joint, and is a really old-fashioned type that went out of production.

"But it makes a really good gear stick."

Updated: 12:02 Wednesday, May 08, 2002