For 4x4 owners looking for rural street cred: spray-on mud

At £7.95 a bottle, it's cheaper than a pair of green wellies but guaranteed to provide that authentic country look.

At £7.95 a bottle, it's cheaper than a pair of green wellies but guaranteed to provide that authentic country look.

For the urban 4x4 in search of some rural street-cred the solution has arrived: spray-on mud.

Even though your 4x4 may never have tackled anything more arduous than a speed bump on the school run, you can apply Sprayonmud to give that "country" feel to your car. And with stones and grit filtered out, and a little water added, there's no risk of scratching the paintwork.

The new product is the brainchild of Shropshire businessman Colin Dowse, who claims it is selling fast, with many customers in the US, where SUVs are popular among urban drivers. "It started out as just a pub joke about these people who live in London and drive 4x4s but who never go to the country," he said.

Mr Dowse denies that the real purpose of Sprayonmud is to obscure number plates to prevent them being picked up by speed cameras or, in London, congestion charge cameras.