When knights of the road Chris and Gary Croucher are on patrol, a broken-down driver could be forgiven for doing a double-take.

Between them, the twins have just clocked up 50 years of service for the RAC - Gary joined up just a month after Chris in 1977.

And some motorists who have called the recovery service for help have been offered not just a friendly face but a familiar one.

One family Chris went to help were convinced they had seen him before.

Chris, 51, of Langley Walk, Crawley, said: "A boy in a caravan I was fixing said to his mum, 'That is the man who came to help us the other day'. She told me I had helped when they broke down in Kingston.

"I had never seen them before in my life. I explained it must have been my twin brother but I don't think they believed me. I got some very funny looks."

The potential for confusion is eased a little by the fact Chris covers Sussex while Gary's patch is Surrey.

Both grew up fascinated by cars, despite, or probably due to, the fact their family did not own one.

Chris said: "Up to the age of about 14, when mum and dad finally got one, it was like a fantasy to be able to get into a car.

"From about seven or eight, whenever people asked what I wanted to do, I always said mechanic."

Chris applied to join the RAC aged 19 but was told he was too young. When he finally got his chance, Gary was not far behind.

Not surprisingly, they have seen their fair share of nightmare drivers.

One Ford Capri driver was caught short on the M23, near Horsham, and stopped on the hard shoulder to relieve himself.

He was unable to restart his car and Chris was sent to diagnose the problem, which proved simpler than expected.

Chris said: "The car was an automatic and he had left it in gear. I just put it into park, then neutral and it started.

"I think he had just panicked. Often you get people who get themselves in a state. You have just got to calm them down and send them off with a smile."

He helped narrowly avert a disaster when fixing a car at the side of the M23, near the M25 interchange at Hooley.

An elderly woman stopped her car to ask for directions in the fog - unfortunately not on the hard shoulder but in the slow lane.

Chris said: "Before I gave her any directions I had to make sure she got out of the way of any traffic. That could have been nasty."

A young boy diced with death by striding across the M25, near the Clackett Lane services, to ask for help fixing a windscreen.

He said: "His mum had sent him over while I was helping someone else. I called the police to get him taken back safely."

Chris and Gary may have kept car repairs in the family but neither of Chris's sons James, 19, or Daniel, 17, want to follow in their footsteps.

Chris admitted: "They keep me busy enough with work on their own cars, though."

The RAC has just rewarded Chris and Gary, who lives in Chessington, with gold watches.

Chris said: "We should be able to do another 15 years each to take it up to 40 and retirement."