A TEAM of taxi drivers from Portland went hell for leather as they made their television debut in style.

Matt Stone, Rene Jungbar and Di Ayres appeared on hit Channel 4 TV show Scrapheap Challenge.

The islanders emerged victorious over a batch of builders from Suffolk in a challenge to turn rusty refuse into super slick snowmobiles.

They are now through to the next round in the race to be crowned Britain's best bodgers of crazy contraptions.

The trio, dubbed the 'Turbo Taxis' - had to build a scrappy snowmobile in just 10 hours under the watchful eye of show expert Pete Roberts.

Then they had to put their newly cobbled machine to the test on a 250-metre track inside a snowdome in front of judge Niklas Frisk.

Turbo Taxis captain Rene - nicknamed Herman the German - sealed victory for the cabbies by guiding the snowmobile home inside 42 seconds.

Matt, 34, who has worked for cab firm Weyline for around four years, said taking part in Scrapheap Challenge was 'a lot of fun'. He added: "It was the sort of thing we wouldn't have got the chance to do otherwise.

"There's an awful lot of money spent so it was really great.

"The presenters were really good with us as well, Robert Llewellyn was a lot of fun."

Keen biker Matt and his team-mates married the engine and wheels of a car to the front forks of a motorbike to form their trike-style snowmobile.

He said: "I'm quite an enthusiast, I do like to tinker with bikes and trikes and other things.

"We were definitely confident in our ability but there was certainly an element of luck to it as well. It was a great experience."

The islanders will now appear on Scrapheap Challenge on Channel 4 again on June 3 for the next round of the competition.

"We've already filmed it, but we have been absolutely sworn to secrecy in terms of what happens," Matt added.

"All I can say is that we will definitely be appearing on the show again on June 3."