Subject: Inventor creates Trabant snow plough

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A German inventor has converted his Soviet bloc era Trabant car into a snow plough.

Helmut Tasche wanted to combat the heavy snowfalls in his home town of Luckenwalde.

He asked a blacksmith to make a special snow scoop for the car after he got fed up of shoveling snow from his drive by hand.

A home-made sleigh attached to the back can also carry stranded snow victims or make vital deliveries, explained the engineer.

The car's poor reputation suggests it might make the world's most unreliable snow plough - but Mr Tasche insists it is up to the job.

"It is a fully functioning snow clearing mobile. I have the shovel and in the back I carry grit and sand. I even have a sign saying 'Winter Services' on it," he insisted.

East Germany's Trabant cars were in production for nearly 30 years, before the fall of the Berlin Wall, without significant improvements.

With its mediocre performance, smoky two-stroke engine, and production shortages, the car was regarded with derisive affection as a symbol of communist state.