The new Ford Transit Custom is a fine van that’s only been missing one thing — the option of a high roof. That omission has now been addressed, and a high-roof Transit Custom model is now available for sale in the UK.

The new model retains the choice of short and long wheelbases and different engine power levels, and offers 20 per cent more space than the standard roof, taking the cubic capacity to 8.3 cubic metres.

Load height increases by 370mm to 1.78m, and the new high roof has an all-steel construction that allows for a 100kg roof rack load and costs just £500 extra, making it something of a no brainer.

Load space features that debuted in the standard roof model are all present and correct in the high roof van, including the load-through hatch in the bulkhead that allows loads of up to 3m in length to be carried, as well as side-mountede tie-down hooks, and LED loadspace lighting.

Ford says that it has sold more than 6,000 Transit Customs in the UK since the model’s launch in December, which suggests that the model is still getting a foothold in the market, but sales should rise as more variants become available. The high roof model should open up the Transit Custom to a range of new customers who would previously have purchased the standard Transit with a medium-height roof, which is a popular choice — although strangely, you see very few Transporter, Vivaro and Vito high roof models, even though these are available as factory options.

The Transit Custom remains the only van in its segment to have achieved a maximum five-star Euro NCAP safety rating and buyers of the high-roof model can also choose to include the advanced safety features that helped it earn this accolade, including SYNC with Emergency Assistance, Rear View Camera, Acceleration Control, Lane Keeping Alert and Driver Alert.