Sarah Riley, 17, of Penistone, has spent the last four months building the vehicle with her father Bruce and decided that the six-day trip would be the ideal way to give her new creation a serious test.

As well as driving on normal roads, Sarah plans to cross four of the highest passes in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales and the pair will also tackle four challenging off-road courses.

Sarah, who is due to start the second year of a motor vehicle maintenance and repair apprenticeship at Barnsley College on her return, started the journey at the college at 10.30am yesterday.

She said she and her dad planned to travel to John O'Groats before taking a ferry to Northern Ireland. They will then cross back into Wales, travel to Cumbria and then head to Land's End and return home via London.

The teenager admitted the vehicle might break down on the way but added: "I am looking forward to applying the skills and knowledge I have learnt and I'm confident we can face any problems.

"If we've built the vehicle then we should know how to fix it."