Wigan sweet fan's two-wheeled tribute is in mint condition

Darren Wood grew up with the fantastic smell of mint ball production, which drifted into his classroom when he was a pupil at Deanery High School, Wigan, just a few hundred yards from the factory on Dorning Street.

Now he has created a lasting tribute to his favourite confectionary by decorating his Lambretta scooter in the famous Uncle Joe’s logo and colours.

Darren, 53, from Aspull, fell in love with the W-registration (1981) scooter when he saw it for sale and actually swapped it for a Harley Davidson, a restoration project which he never managed to complete.

Darren, who runs DW Print in Aspull, said: “When I was at school there was always the fantastic smell of Uncle Joe’s, especially on a Wednesday, which must have been the day when they brought them up from the mint ball mines down below!

“When I saw the scooter I just fell in love with it and decided to turn it into a bit of a tribute. It already had the basic colours and the word Rumpshaker down the side, so I thought, ‘let’s make it an Uncle Joe’s Rumpshaker’.”

Darren has only had a scooter a few weeks but can now be seen riding it around the Wigan area.

John Winnard MBE, Joint Managing Director of Wigan-based Uncle Joe’s, said: “Lot’s a people have fond childhood memories of the sweet smell of mint ball production but for Darren to turn his scooter into a mobile tribute to his favourite sweets is fantastic.

“We invited him down to the factory for a complimentary jar of sweets to say thankyou and look forward to seeing him riding around town on his Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls scooter.”

Uncle Joe’s Mint Balls are produced by William Santus and Co Ltd, a privately-owned traditional sweet company that was established in 1898. The ownership has been passed down through the family generations.