ONE-ARMED motorcyclist John Liddiard was determined not to let his disability keep him off the roads.

After just six hours of tuition the Southampton father-of-two passed his motorcycle proficiency test with flying colours.

Now the 38-year-old can be seen happily ferrying himself to work and even giving his children the occasional ride. But John, a city council maintenance engineer, admits that he may have had a lucky charm to help him through the test.

He said: "My dad Jim died four weeks ago so it was nice to pass because my dad always rode bikes and I wore his biking boots for my test.

"When I was young I wanted to get on the back on my dad's bike and now I can do the same for my children even if it's just up and down the road.

"I just wanted to prove to myself and others that it could be done."

John, of Vinery Gardens, Shirley, first hit the Daily Echo headlines in August, 1986, when he lost his left arm in a piledriving accident on his 21st birthday.

Two years ago he contacted the National Association for Bikers with a Disability (NABD) after hearing that they loaned motorcycles to disabled riders for six months.

In June he was provided with a specially adapted Suzuki 125cc bike, with the clutch and brakes mounted on the same side.

John's NHS artificial arm, which is strapped on and able to lock at the elbow, has a rubber hand that enables him to grip the motorcycle handlebar.

"Before I lost my arm I rode a bike but I never passed my test," he said.

"A couple of years ago someone gave me the e-mail address for the NABD. There was a bit of a waiting list and they delivered the adapted bike from Manchester.

"I know full well I did not get any preferential treatment in my test. If anything they were more rigorous but I'm really grateful to my instructor Stuart Griffin.

Advanced Driver Training instructor Stuart admitted that he did not know quite what to think when John turned up saying he wanted to ride a motorcycle.

"He did really well," said Stuart.

"If you were following him you would not know he has only one arm. I've been teaching for 20 years and I have never come across anyone doing this. I had a go on his bike and controlling the two brakes and clutch at the same time is quite a feat.

"But he got a clean sheet in his test. The examiner could not find anything wrong and I would say only ten per cent of people get a clean sheet."

Now John is determined to get a bike of his own.

"I'd really like a BMW," he said.