FORMER rugby world cup hero Matt Dawson has been in some tight spots wearing an England shirt.

But the ex-scrum half found the super eco-car designed by Oxford University students just too much of a squeeze, when invited to take his place behind the wheel.

Mr Dawson visited Begbroke Science Park, near Yarnton, on Thursday to inspect ‘Peggie’ – a car engineering students are taking to Rotterdam next week to represent Britain in the Shell Eco-Marathon to find Europe’s most energy efficient car.

But he was taken aback to find the tiny vehicle weighed only 30 kg and is less than a metre wide.

And although he had a go at squeezing in, he was forced to admit: “There is no way I’m going to fit into that and it’s so close to the ground.”

Every year Shell organises three events around the globe to challenge universities to get the most kilometres on the least amount of energy.

The car, powered by batteries and solar panels, will be up against 223 university teams from 24 different countries, competing in the Technical Innovation section.

University technical manager Pete Armstrong, 27 said: “We have spent a year working on the vehicle. I think Germany is the big threat. But we see the car as a platform to enable us to experiment in new technologies.”