A PLAQUE has been mounted commemorating the Walthamstow man who created the UK's first motor car.

The blue plaque on the wall of 1 Connaught Road, Walthamstow, marks the creation of Britain's first petrol driven motor car in a small workshop at the rear of the building by Frederick Bremer and Tom Bates, in 1894.

The Bremer family moved to Walthamstow in 1888 when Fred was 16 and nurturing an early interest in engineering, plumbing and cycling. The interest was passed on by his brother-in-law, Herbert Dowsing, a pioneer of the electricity industry with close connections to the early car developers.

Work on the vehicle began in 1892 and went through several designs before being launched onto the streets of Walthamstow in 1894.

The car, a mixture of ideas lifted from bicycles, demonstrated Bremer's ingenuity but did not contribute to the further development of the motor car.

Cllr Simon Wright, cabinet member for regeneration, said: "Our blue plaques celebrate great figures oof the borough's past and this one opens a window on another time. Too few people know that the first British car was developed in a Walthamstow back garden between 1892 and 1894."

The car was donated to the Walthamstow Museum in 1933 by Frederick bremer and can still be seen today in the Vestry House, Walthamstow Village.

Mr Bremer died in 1941 and is buried in St Mary's churchyard, Walthamstow.