I have found a used car being sold privately which I would like to buy. The seller is reluctant to accept a verified bankers draft due to the risk of it being fake or cancelled and I am equally reluctant to do a bank transfer before I take receipt of the keys. I don't want to travel to the seller with £25k in cash for safety reasons.

As we live a good distance away and cannot be present at a bank during opening hours, what do you recommend as the safest method for buyer and seller? If buyer transfers money to the sellers bank account that day but picks up several hours later, what happens if the seller has disappeared?