This could be a real case of tanks for nothin'.

British authorities have told a disabled man he cannot use his wheelchair on public streets because he requires a tank license to drive it.

Jim Starr, 36, has been banned from using his custom-made wheelchair by Britain's Driving and Vehicle Licensing Agency, which claims it is actually a tank.

"The whole idea of the chair was that I could go down to the beach with the kids," said Starr. "It is a fantastic machine and can take me anywhere I want to go. It has no limits.

"It is ridiculous that I should have found a chair that could help me do all that ... only for the authorities to turn around and say that if I used it on the roads, I would be doing something illegal," he said.

A former landscape gardener, Starr has required a wheelchair since 1999 because of chronic back and joint conditions, neurological problems and arthritis.

The $24,000 chair, given as a Christmas gift by a friend, is made in the United States.

Appropriately named the Tank Chair, the modified wheelchair was invented by Brad Soden, a U.S. Army veteran inspired by his time spent in a Bradley Fighting Vehicle during Operation Desert Storm in 1991.

Soden, from Arizona, claims he was motivated to remodel a chair with caterpillar tracks instead of wheels so his disabled wife could enjoy the outdoors with their family.