CHILDREN will be arriving for surgery in luxury with the creation of the world’s smallest Rolls-Royce.

The specially made car is being used at St Richard’s Hospital in Chichester.

Young patients at the hospital’s paediatric day surgery unit will be able to drive from the ward to the operating theatre.

The paediatric unit’s corridors are also lined with specially created traffic signs for the youngsters to follow.

It is hoped the little car will ease the stress and worry for children facing an operation.

The appropriately named Rolls-Royce SRH was made for the hospital by the car firm’s team at Goodwood.

Children have enjoyed the distraction of driving a toy car to surgery for several years at the hospital.

However the jeep that had been used had begun to tire and a replacement was needed.

Western Sussex Hospitals NHS Trust’s Love Your Hospital charity approached Rolls-Royce to see if it could help.

Charity head Amanda Tucker said: “We never expected to receive such an incredible gift.

“The company’s employees volunteered hundreds of hours of their own time to hand-build this remarkable electric vehicle which will delight boys and girls coming to hospital for treatment.”

Test-drivers Molly Matthews, eight, and Hari Rajyaguru, seven, tried out the cars for themselves on a visit to the company’s base.

Rolls-Royce Motor Cars chief executive Torsten Muller-Otvos said: “We are a proud member of the community here in West Sussex.

“The paediatric unit does such vital work in providing essential care to young people and their families.

“We hope the Rolls?Royce SRH will serve to make the experience for young people during treatment a little less stressful.”

The car is designed with a two-tone paint scheme of Andalusian White and Salamanca Blue and finished with a hand-applied St James Red coachline.

The interior space is appointed with the same attention to detail afforded to every specially made car.

It includes a two-tone steering wheel, seats and self-righting wheel centres which match the coachline.

Patients will be able to travel at a top speed of ten mph, which is achieved in seconds with the help of power derived from a 24 volt gel battery.

For those preferring a more sedate journey, the speed setting is variable and can be limited to a statelier but no-less exhilarating 4mph.

It took more than 400 hours to develop and hand-craft the little car, which has now been officially unveiled at the hospital.