A late entry consisting of a driver and co-driver that had never met before took out this year's Visit Conwy Cambrian Rally.

Derbyshire's Ollie Mellors and Welsh co-driver Max Freeman may have never met before but gelled perfectly to overcome a puncture in the penultimate timed stage on Saturday to claim the title.

The pair claimed race honous in their Proton Iriz R5 over experienced crew Paul Bird and co-driver Jack Morton, who were the first British Trials and Rally Drivers’ Association crew home.

Mellors said: "The competition has been very strong with world cars, and local cars and local knowledge so to be able to come out on top is fantastic."

There was disappointment though, for Colwyn Bay driver Matt Edwards and co-driver Darren Garrod, from Harlech, who despite recording the fastest times on five out of the seven stages came away empty handed.

The pair collided with a log and caused damage to their Swift group sponsored Ford Fiesta R5 which resulted in them having to carry out repairs before resuming the rally.

Pre-event favourites, Rhuddlan’s Luke Francis and navigator John H Roberts from Llysfaen suffered a problem which meant they had to retire their Ford Fiesta WRC two stages from the rally’s finish on the Llandudno promenade.