IT'S the award-winning BBC comedy series in which dozens of bizarre characters are all played by three of the show's four writers.

The League of Gentlemen features a distinctive 2005 Citroen Dispatch driven by transsexual taxi driver Barbara Tattsyrup, owner of Bab’s Cabs, who insists on her customers using gender neutral pronouns.

But viewers see only glimpses of her hands and legs as she drives passengers around the fictional town of Royston Vasey.

Barbara is voiced by Steve Pemberton who, along with fellow writers Mark Gatiss and Reece Shearsmith, play the majority of the characters.

Now the bright pink taxi familiar to fans of the cult show has gone on display at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu.

In the first three series of The League of Gentlemen Barbara drove a bright pink Mazda minicab.

But by the time the show was resurrected for three special episodes last year Barbara had upgraded to a purpose-built Citroen Dispatch equipped with wheelchair access and painted in the same shocking shade as the original car.

The eye-catching taxi has gone on show in an exhibition area full of film and TV favourites.

Other vehicles displayed in On Screen Cars include Rupert Grint’s flying Ford Anglia from Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, Del Boy’s Reliant Regal van from Only Fools and Horses, and the getaway car used by Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley in Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.

Mr Bean's lime green mini and a Jaguar XKR from the James Bond film Die Another Day are among the other exhibits.

The League of Gentlemen premiered on BBC Two in 1999.

Royston Vasey is said to be based on Bacup in Lancashire and was filmed at several locations, including Bacup itself.

The show charts the antics of characters including a family obsessed with hygiene and toads, and a xenophobic couple who run a "local shop for local people".