A 'MINI' coincidence led a father and son to rescue a team of Dutch car enthusiasts after they suffered a road breakdown in Inverclyde.

Self confessed Mini car fanatic Jim Thompson and his son Jamie had just returned home to Skelmorlie after attending the International Mini meeting in Bristol when they received an SOS call about three men from Amsterdam whose old Mini had broken down at Pearson of Wemyss Bay.

Staff at the car dealership immediately got in touch with Jim and Jamie as they knew they would be able to come to the rescue.

Jim said: "Me and Jamie had been down in Bristol to celebrate the Mini's 60th birthday and had only been back for 20 minutes when we got a call from Pearsons to see if we could help three guys from Holland who had broken down.

"The three guys had been doing the North Coast 500 in old Minis when one of them broke down - the cylinder head gasket was gone.

"Because the guys in Pearsons know we are into classic Minis they phoned me to see if we had a part.

"When you drive old Minis you always keep parts because they are so old and are likely to break down.

"Luckily I had the part they were looking for so we went along to help."

Jim, 58, and Jamie, 26, made their way to the garage to help the tourists get back on the road.

Jim added: "The three guys were over-the-moon.

"They wanted to give us money for the part but I just told them that the next time we were in Amsterdam they could come and help us.

"They were all howling with laughter.

"The whole thing was such a strange coincidence.

"They were lucky as if they had broken down anywhere else they would've been in trouble."

Jim has since been back in contact with the Dutch drivers.

He added: "They emailed to let us know they had arrived safely back in Amsterdam.

"We're probably going to be in Cologne next year so I think we'll maybe arrange to meet up."

Jim is keen to thank the staff at Pearsons who allowed the men to fix their car under the canopy out of the rain.