Despite the fact that Britain already has the world land speed record under its collective belt, a new project has been launched to make double sure it stays this side of the Atlantic.

The new campaign is called Bloodhound and has been dreamt up by the man who held the land speed record from 1983-1997, Richard Noble. His 633.4mph record has since been beaten by former RAF pilot Andy Green, who pushed the record to 763mph.

Now the pair are working together to breach the 1000mph barrier. The target speed is hugely ambitious and would be a far greater leap than has ever been achieved before. Most speed increases are to the tune of 5 or 10 per cent.

The 30 per cent jump is due to a rival operation in the States; Noble and Green do not want the record slipping out of the UK's grasp.

The Bloodhound will first be tested at Newquay Airport at speeds of up to 200mph, before the machine is ready for faster tests in Hakskeen Pan Desert in South Africa, where the final record attempt will take place.

But that won't happen until 2016. Before that, dozens of UK aerospace firms will be working on the project, including Rolls Royce which has provided EJ200 Eurofighter jet engines. The vehicle will also feature a hybrid rocket and a Cosworth F1 engine as an auxiliary power source.

Mr Noble hopes that the Bloodhound will encourage youngsters to enter the world of engineering, which he says is in drastically short supply of talent.

Here at startrescue.co.uk we wish the Bloodhound gang all the best, however, we regret to advise that our car breakdown services do not extend to the Hakskeen Pan desert – just in case!