THREATS of terrorist attacks have halted the progress of a Huddersfield area rallying duo across Africa.

Father and son team Paul and Mark Round are on the 12th day of the Paris-Dakar Rally.

Paul, 46, of Lower Cumberworth, is navigating while Mark, 26, from Emley, is driving.

The pair are in a Land Rover/BMW hybrid vehicle, built by Paul at a cost of £35,000.

They are in 32nd place in the race, which has hundreds of competitors.

The rally, which began on January 1, has seen the drivers pass through France, Spain, Morocco, the North African Atlas Mountains and desert terrain in Mauritania.

Paul and Mark were among 169 teams of cars, bikes and trucks that had made it to Nema in Mauritania by Saturday.

From there, they were due to head for Mopti, in Mali, then go on to Bobo Dioulasso.

However, due to security threats from extremist groups, the rally was stopped on Saturday.

The competitors were taken straight to Bobo Dioulasso by liaison crews.

Paul and Mark arrived there yesterday and were spending today on a planned rest day.

The rally will start again tomorrow, when competitors will tackle a 416-mile tropical forest route to Bamako.

Sandy and rough African terrain will then face them as they drive 1,680 miles through the final five stages to Dakar in Senegal.

Paul's wife, Dawn, said she was not too worried about them. She said: "They have done it six times, so I'm used to it.

"Paul rang me on Sunday from Bobo Dioulasso. They are fine, the car is working well and they

are doing very well."

Mrs Round added that Mark was in an interview on satellite channel Eurosport on Saturday night.