Father banned from going on mechanics course before his ‘road trip of a lifetime’… because he’s a MAN

John Mandy’s retirement dreams have stalled after being told he can’t go on the mechanics course he wanted because he’s the wrong sex.

Mr Mandy, 58, of Stockport, Manchester, had sensibly planned to tune up his skills ahead of a trip of a lifetime around Europe in a VW camper van with wife Joy, 57.

But his plan failed as the one local evening class he could find – at Trafford College – only accepts women so that men can’t ‘intimidate’ them in lessons

Mr Mandy, who works at Kellogg’s in Old Trafford, said: ‘I just can’t get my head around it.

‘I could understand if it was swimming classes or something like that, but it would just be a group of people in overalls learning about cars. I don’t see what difference it makes whether you’re a man or a woman.

‘I wouldn’t be any sort of threat to anyone learning there. I doubt anyone knows as little about mechanics as me.’

John, who hopes to retire in the next two years, bought a 1972 VW ambulance for £6,500 on Ebay and plans to convert it into a camper van for his big trip.

He said: ‘I’m completely clueless about cars and need to learn how to be able to maintain an engine if we’re to go travelling, but it seems that men just aren’t catered for.