Bargain Hunt star Caroline Hawley on her first car - an unreliable Fiat Mirafiori

She earlier had a scooter and felt very fashionable when she rode it with her white leather jacket but it wasn’t quite as much fun when it rained.

Caroline, who runs Hawleys Auctioneers and Valuers in North Cave and Beverley with her husband John, says she needs a vehicle to do her job.

She grew up in Ellecar near Beverley which she said was a lovely place but bus service was poor so it meant she was isolated.

“Having a car and being able to go where you wanted without relying on public transport was fantastic,” she said.

“The bus only seemed to come once or twice a week so to be able to drive was such a freedom.

Her most memorable vehicle was a Mercedes-Benz sports car but now she has a Volvo estate.

“I have to fetch and carry a lot of things so an estate is essential, even though I do miss having a sports car.”

She is always out and about, filming or visiting customers, but enjoys motoring. “I have a roofrack which is also an essential,” she said.

Although Caroline is busy with the auctioneering business and her media roles, she also makes time for talks and presentations to organisations and groups both large and small, on a variety of subjects related to antiques. These are informative in content and light-hearted in delivery. Caroline is also busy throughout the year conducting charity auctions, with her auctioneering skills amusing and entertaining the audience while extracting the maximum return for good causes.

Caroline has been dealing virtually all her life and opened her first antiques shop in South Cave in 1983 and she has been involved in the business ever since. For a number of years Caroline has been one of the experts on the BBC in their Flog It and Bargain Hunt programmes and is still enjoying her life in antiques to the full.

Since 2018 Caroline’s son James has been involved in the business.