The £2 million ($3.1 million) collection of military vehicles of Nick Mead means his sons Ashley, 13, and 16-year-old Danny can choose from a number of road-legal tanks in which to be dropped off to school.
While the unusual mode of transport might mean they miss out on the odd snow day, Mead said he loved seeing the looks on other parents' faces. He often drives his 17-ton FV432 armored personnel carrier teasing police and surprising fellow motorists by revving its eight-liter, two stroke engine.
"The police often grin or look the other way and most of them don't know what to do, it's not every day you see a tank rolling into town," Mead said. "It's sometimes difficult when I drive it down hills, we'd had some close calls, and I took the fuel cap off a bus once when it got too close …But in my 20 years driving tanks I've never had once crash, I'm always extremely careful, especially with the kids."
The owner of tank driving events company Tanks A Lot Ltd bought his first armored vehicle, a FV433 Abbot, for £1,750 more than 20 years ago. Since then, he has amassed a fleet of more than 95 operational tanks.