A HEARTBROKEN North Yorkshire couple told today how they face ruin after losing a legal battle for compensation after their retirement dream turned into a nightmare.

The £61,000 giant American motorhome bought by Barry and Maureen Bramhill turned out to be too wide to be driven legally on British roads and could not be insured.

But judges yesterday threw out their appeal for compensation, and now the couple, of King Rudding Lane, Riccall, near Selby, face legal bills of £180,000-plus to pay for their four-year fight through the courts.

The pair, who used to own the Star Line Cruises on the River Ouse in York, had long dreamed of selling the business, buying their motorhome, and "disappearing into the sunset".

But now their motorhome fight - which has already seen the second-hand Dolphin motorhome being seized by bailiffs - has cost them everything.

"A lifetime's hard work has gone down the drain," said Mr Bramhill, 64.

"This was supposed to be our retirement, disappearing in the beautiful motorhome, off round the world.

"But now we have nothing left, our life savings have been wiped out and we face the prospect of living off the state for our retirement."

The couple bought the motorhome, known as a Recreational Vehicle or RV in America, from a Cardiff dealer in 1999 at a trade fair.

The size of a single-decker bus, the RV was 34-feet long and 103 inches wide - two inches above the legal maximum width for vehicles on British roads. On discovering the problem the couple tried to swap it with the dealer for a smaller, legal-sized vehicle, but he refused, and they eventually sued him for "negligently misrepresenting" the vehicle.

But their claim was dismissed, with three Appeal Court judges yesterday unanimously refusing any compensation. They said the police turned a "blind eye" to minor infringements of the rules. Said Mr Bramhill: "It was ruined for me as soon as I found out it was illegal. I didn't want to spend the rest of my retirement looking over my shoulder, wondering if we were going to get caught."

"And if something is illegal, just because the police aren't arresting people it doesn't make it all right.

"Our home is rented, and we are just left with our small, older motorhome, and legal bills coming out of our ears. I can't describe how terrible it feels."

Updated: 09:26 Saturday, April 03, 2004