Ref. 26071-36A MINI-MAD couple are hoping to find the road to true happiness as they take to the highway to compete in a gruelling 2,500-mile road race.

Paul Doick, 36, and fiancee Jo Field, 30, of Abington Way in Queensfield, Swindon, plan to spend their honeymoon competing in the legendary Italian Job race.

The race which starts on November 1 is named after the classic 1969 film starring Michael Caine and Noel Coward and takes more than 100 cars to Italy and back in just eight days.

Jo, a personal assistant, told the Evening Advertiser they are hoping to burn rubber with their 1999 Mini Cooper.

"We have three Minis altogether. We've called this one Syd.

"It's a fast car so hopefully we'll stand a good chance.

"The Swindon Mini Associate Club (SMAC) has backed us as well as lots of friends and family," she said.

To enter the race, which will be going into its 14th year, entrants must raise £1,500 in sponsorship money which will go to the NCH Action for Children charity.

The couple have already smashed that target, having raised more than £2,500 through sponsorship from family and friends.

Last month they collected £900 selling cakes at the Old Town festival.

Paul, whose idea it was to enter the race, said customers at the Fish Brothers Peugeot car dealers in Great Western Way, where he is a sales executive, have been busy donating cakes for him to sell.

He said: "We have had a few customers come in and give us some cakes, that we have sold on the stall.

"Everyone has been really supportive and we are really looking forward to getting over there."

However, the couple admit that they are feeling a little apprehensive about braving the foreign road in their trusted Syd.

"Driving on the other side of the road through Italian cities could be a problem.

"But we plan to split the driving so it shouldn't be too bad," said Paul.

The race is to be split into a series of stages.

They are due to arrive in Imola, home of the Italian Grand Prix, on Saturday, November 1, when they will get the chance to race on the

famous tarmac.

A navigational rally then follows, giving drivers the chance to take in some of the local countryside.

On the Wednesday they will head north to Turin, where they will plan to complete a stage on the Fiat-owned Rooftop Test Tracks, which featured in the hit film.

From there they cruise to Burgundy, France, on Thursday then on to Paris and finally back to Dover.

Frederick St George, one of the race's organisers based in Brighton, congratulated the couple on their wedding plans.

He said: "It is a really cool way to spend your honeymoon and I am sure they will have an absolutely fantastic time.

"They will have plenty of time to sample some of the world's finest wines. As far as I know, they will only be the second newly-wed couple to compete."