Going loopy over town's roundabouts

Last year his Swindon Roundabouts calendar sold out several times and 8,000 were eventually snapped up.

Now his Swindon's Magic Roundabouts 2005 is in print and Kevin, 52, a printer from Redditch, Worcestershire, hopes he will have another sellout.

"Swindon has loads of unique roundabouts they are the unsung heroes of the roads," he said.

"The Magic Roundabout is the white knuckle ride of all of them and you have some fantastic PMTs."

PMTs is his quirky name for Painted Mini Traffic islands.

"I am just passionate about Swindon's roundabouts, they are the best examples in the country."

But a quick scan through the months in the calendar has revealed a few little errors.

Some of the locations are unnamed and one is wrong. What is captioned A Bulls Eye Mini on Newport Street for the month of August is actually at the junction of Victoria Road and Bath Road.

The photographs in the calendar come from the book Roundabouts of Great Britain, written by Kevin who is the owner of printing firm, BB Print Digital.

He is also bringing out other calendars featuring 25 UK towns and cities and has done one on the Costa del Sol.

Kevin added: " It was the US, not Britain, which started the proliferation of roundabouts.

"The first one was in New York in 1903, followed by Paris three years later. We did not get a roundabout in Britain until one was built in Letchworth in 1926."

So far his calendars have sold around 30,000 copies worldwide. "This year we are hoping to double that."

The calendars are his firm's most successful product, he said. Mr Beresford and his staff of five are also catering for expatriates by producing a calendar featuring the roundabouts of the Costa del Sol in Spain.

The calendars are available at £8 from BB Print Digital on 01527 520977 or visiting www.round aboutsofbritain.com

Mr Beresford's book, Roundabouts of Great Britain, is published by New Holland and costs £7.99.

Catherine Turnbull