He's the prized pigeon named after his master's Leeds taxi company.

* Click here to sign up to free news and sport email alerts from Rothwell Today.

But he's more reliable than any private hire vehicle you will ever call on in this city – he arrives way ahead of time.

* Click here to become a fan of Rothwell Today on Facebook.

Super Wheels left 2,500 competitors from across Yorkshire trailing in his wake in a prestigious cross-channel race, to make him the pride of the county.

Dave Broxup, 43, who is director of Cross Green-based taxi firm Wheels, bred him from his home in Rothwell and decided to name Super Wheels after his company.

But Mr Broxup, a pigeon fancier for 15 years, had no idea the three-year-old would live up to his speedy name when he entered him into his first race a fortnight ago.

The 403-mile cross channel race from Le Mans in France back to West Yorkshire was expected to take the front runners around eight hours 30 minutes.

So when Super Wheels was back home with 45 minutes to spare he knew he had the makings of a champion.

Mr Broxup said: "I couldn't believe it when he just dropped into his nest. He looked really fresh and was spinning around and cooing. All he was bothered about was seeing his hen.

"We knew that night he was the first one back from our club and federation. But there were birds from 10 federations across Yorkshire in the competition so we had to wait five days to get confirmation we had won the event outright."

Super Wheels and Mr Broxup were declared winners of the Mid Yorkshire Combine event.

Mr Broxup, a member of Rothwell Homing Society, based at Lofthouse Working Men's Club, Wakefield, is now planning a European double for Super Wheels.

His prized pigeon will be going back to Falais, in France, on July 11 in the hope of gaining another top trophy.

Mr Broxup said: "It was a really special thing to win, especially for a pigeon from West Yorkshire.

"There is always some very strong competition from South Yorkshire,
plus they have a shorter distance to get home.

"It's definitely the best win of my life and I'm hoping there will be more wins to come and we will see just how good Super Wheels can be."