Top Gear's brief guide to towing a trailer

If you’re lucky enough to have rear view cameras, these will be your saviour. If not, grab a friend you can trust to spot you as you reverse back. The hitch ball should sit directly above the ball housing.

Using the rotating lever, rotate until the housing is on your vehicle's hitch ball. The housing should fit right over the ball as you lower so make sure to check you have properly lined it up. Lower until the weight is off your jockey wheel/jack foot.

Once correctly attached, you need to check this procedure has securely supported the trailer. By lifting up the trailer you can see that the two have successfully attached.

Lock the trailer into place to secure the two together. Each trailer may be different, and this can be done via inserting a cotter pin or simply clicking a lock into place.

Again using the rotating lever, rotate it all the way back up so that the wheel is no longer on the floor. This wheel is used for moving the trailer into place and for small movements, not for travelling. Once back all the way to the top and away from the ground, secure into place.

This may be in the form of a cable or chain which is used as a backup in case the hook fails. The cable or chain works as a cradle to catch the trailer, so it doesn't fall off and drag on the floor.

In order to have working taillights you will need to connect via the four or seven pin electrical cable. Secure cables so they don't overhang dangerously by wrapping around the tow hook.

Check trailer tyres are safe and within the legal limit (1.6mm across the central three-quarters of the tyre) and are inflated. Spread the trailer load out equally too so it's balanced. And of course check that your brakes and indicator lights work using a friend or reflective surface.

Make sure you can see your trailer and the road clearly when driving. Be careful when taking turns and remember to go wider than usual to account for the longer length. And then, enjoy! You'll be holding up other road users in no time.