NOEL Frost is hoping to sell his Bentley for £30,000, but if you fancy its special number plate, it will set you back another £80,000.

Mr Frost, of Goldsmiths Lane, Wallingford, said: "I have had lots of offers for the 1 OX number plate, but none has come near what I think it is worth."

The 69-year-old, who bought it ten years ago, has watched the price rise as collectors battle it out for the plates.

He said: "I am not telling you how much I paid for it, but it was a lot less than the present asking price.

"I recently sold 2 OX for £21,000 - again after buying it for significantly less.

"I have invested in many number plates because they do not need insurance, cannot be copied and need no maintenance."

Mr Frost - a world champion indoor rower - has offered 1 OX to Oxford City Council, which turned down the opportunity to buy it.

The 1997 long wheelbase Bentley has only 50,000 miles on the clock and was purchased only a few months ago for £4,000.

Since then, Mr Frost has been working to bring it up to top-notch condition in a bid to sell it.

He said: "I am in my 70th year and I think a 400 brake horsepower engine with blistering performance is a bit beyond me."

Mr Frost is well known as an indoor rower after taking up the pastime 12 years ago.

He has held many world championship records and is in the British Indoor Rowing Hall of Fame alongside sportsmen such as Sir Steve Redgrave and Matthew Pinsent.

Neither Oxfordshire County Council nor Oxford City Council would contemplate paying out £80,000 - or anywhere near it - for Mr Frost's 1 OX number plate.

The chairman of the county council does not have an official car, and the city council already owns a special number plate - FC1 - on the Lord Mayor's Toyota Prius.

A spokesman said: "We have not got any money and we certainly would not use any we had paying out for an £80,000 number plate!"