A vehicle body shop in Dagenham is celebrating its 10th birthday.

The Fix Auto branch in Rainham Road South became the first workshop in the UK to sign up with the North American chain in 2005,

Originally part of Wilsons Toyotas, in Kemp Road, Chadwell Heath, the company set out independently a small team of eight, but now boast a workforce of up to 40.

“The biggest challenge over that time has been keeping up with technology,” said

“Looking back, a Ford Escort had a single computer, but the latest [Volkswagen] Golf has 168 –the development has been phenomenal.”

Over the decade the number of car body drops has fallen by more than a third to about 2,500 across the UK.

Paul added: “The credit crash in 2007 was pretty devastating for the industry, but the price of keeping up with technology has been the biggest challenge, which is why we put such emphasis on training up our staff.”

For more information visit fixautodagenham.co.uk.