RAC ex-members try carpetbagging

MORE than 500 former members of the Royal Automobile Club have tried to rejoin since it announced the sale of its roadside rescue service. Full members will get a payout of about pounds 30,000 when the sale goes ahead later this year to the US company Cendant.

The ex-members say they should be able to rejoin because the RAC has a provision in its rules giving automatic readmission for those who reapply within three years of resigning. But yesterday the RAC said only those with full membership and voting rights on 27 March, when they imposed a moratorium to prevent carpetbagging, would be eligible for the windfall. While the club would welcome back former members, they would not be eligible for the payout, a spokesman said.

"For those who have resigned their membership, what the rules actually say is that if you wish to rejoin within three years you may do so without undergoing the formalities of the election procedure such as being nominated by two existing members. It doesn't mean you are automatically a member; you still have to reapply." Only the 12,000 full members of the RAC, once known as the Vatican of motordom, will benefit from the Cendant sale. They include the Tory MPs Shaun Woodward and Peter Luff and the president of the Liberal Democrats, Robert Maclennan. Others set to receive the bonuses are the designer Paul Smith and former Formula One champion Damon Hill.

Under its two-tier membership structure the 6 million "members" of the rescue service, who contribute the bulk of RAC profits, will not benefit and need not be consulted.

Overseas members are also excluded from the payout and have threatened legal action to force the RAC to extend payments to them. Next week there is expected to be a High Court hearing at which Jeffrey Rose, the ousted chairman, will seek an extraordinary general meeting, which the board of directors opposes.

The Automobile Association said disgruntled RAC members were turning to it, with figures up 50 per cent. Since launching an advertising campaign two weeks ago it had received 4,200 calls from RAC members.