In the idyllic Cotswolds village of Stow-on-the-Wold, locals going about their daily routines are often disrupted by a duo of bikers clad in leather, revving a Harley-Davidson engine at deafening volumes. The mischievous pair take great delight in setting off car alarms throughout the area and it comes as no surprise to residents when they discover that the culprit is none other than 84 year old Great British Bake Off star Prue Leith, zooming past on her three-wheeled monster. Her husband, John Playfair, has found the perfect pitch of their £40k Tri Glider, equipped with an 1800 cc engine, to trigger nearby car alarms.
"He thinks it's hilarious and everybody panics," admits Prue with an eyeroll. "John is well known in the area. He's very gregarious.
Everybody knows him – and that he's quite childish sometimes." She adds with a chuckle: "He realised that if he revs the motorbike at a certain pitch, it sets off everybody's car alarms. When I first rode on the back of it, I was really, indignant because I said: 'You know, this is noise pollution.
This is unfair. You can't go driving through villages disturbing people with this horrible thing.'" However, John, 78, insists the locals "love" the noise of the reverberating motor.
"They do," concedes Prue, with an element of surprise, reports . "There is something about a Harley that people just love the sound of it. It's safe to sit on because you can't turn over, so you don't have to wear a hat.
It's like a Reliant Robin tricycl.
