A ‘MESSED up’ Dalek which featured as an original prop from Doctor Who in the 1960s is proving a hit after invading a Barry business.

Derek the Dalek, who was originally black when bought off a worldwide auction site, has been mobbed by children and ‘papped’ by customers since he began guarding the entrance to LDS Motor Factors, on Cardiff Road, Barry.

Derek – named after one of the 25-year-old company’s suppliers with homage also to Barry-born weatherman Derek Brockway who he would like to meet– was smartened up by the employees who usually specialise in supplying high quality automotive components for all makes of vehicle.

Managing directors Louise and Lyndon Smith thought Derek – made of fibreglass and measuring 3ft wide and 5ft 6” tall - would be a great addition to the showroom and are now looking for a TARDIS.

Director and manager, Peter White, 45, whose favourite Doctor is Tom Baker, said: “We got him off eBay. He was a black Dalek like Davros, but we had to revamp him. He was a bit messed up. He can’t go up stairs because he’s an old Dalek – he’s got a zimmer frame.

“We wanted to put lights in his head, but he’s got a sealed head. We are going to put Christmas tree lights on him at Christmas. And he’s Welsh and a rugby union fan and he wears the Welsh flag

Peter added: “You can climb inside him. I went up the road for a laugh and I had horns beeping. It’s not every day you have a Dalek going down the road. The customers think he’s great and we get people coming down to take a photo. We had a group of pensioners in their minibus and they rang up asking where the Dalek was and we had a group of Japanese tourists with their cameras, their Nokias.”