Deal or No Deal star Noel Edmonds drives a shop window dummy around in the back of his black cab – to stop punters flagging him down.
The TV legend, 61, bought the traditional ageing taxi for ‘a few hundred pounds’ after repeatedly getting stuck in traffic jams on his way to filming in Bristol.
But he has been forced to put the mannequin – which he calls Candice – permanently in the back seat after scores of people kept trying to jump in as he pulled up.
A friend said: ”He got plagued by people constantly trying to flag him down.
”One woman even got in as he was waiting to meet a colleague at the train station – then refused to get out despite his protestations that he was not a genuine licensed taxi-driver.
”So Noel’s wife Liz came up with the idea of putting a shop mannequin dressed in real clothes on the back seat so it looks like there’s always a passenger on board.
”And to make it more realistic she gave the giant doll a mobile phone constantly held to her ear. Now Noel hardly ever gets bothered – and he’s delighted.”
Noel splashed out on the cab after getting fed up with spending so much of his life sat in traffic on his way to filming Channel 4 hit Deal or No Deal in busy Bristol.
He added the message ”Action Against Time Thieves” to the cab’s pretend licence plate, in protest at the council’s inability to deal with rush hour congestion.
The number plate is the date he met third wife Liz, whom he married last year.
And Noel admits he has grown fond of his back seat rider, adding: ”Candice is every man’s dream.
”She’s attractive, well dressed and has a nice figure.”
