WHEN Neil Sanders, elder son of Tavistock mayor Philip Sanders, was unable to hire the morning suits he wanted for his wedding in Australia, he looked for help on the other side of the world, and turned to West Devon to solve his problem.

Neil has lived in Melbourne for the past six years and, for his wedding to Australian girlfriend Emma, he wanted a more 'English style' outfit than the more usual Aussie shorts and T-shirt.

Neil said: 'As nothing is ever very formal over here I could not find any outfitter who could supply seven identical suits of good quality and fit, so on a visit to Tavistock in July I asked Ian Pitts, owner of Quinns, whether Etiquette, who supply his hire wear, could be persuaded to hire out in Australia.

'Unfortunately they are UK-based only but with a lot of help from Ian, including weighing a typical suit and lots of measurements from my friends around the globe, we managed to get five of the suits to Tavistock.'

Because no carrier could guarantee delivery of the suits to Australia, dad Philip then sacrificed most of his baggage allowance to get the five suits to Airlie Beach in Queensland, where the wedding took place at the end of September.

On hearing the difficulties Neil was having in finding quality morning suits in Australia, Ian Pitts, who lives in Bratton Clovelly and whose wife Dawn runs a hairdressers in Okehampton, said he was only too happy to help.

He said: 'We try and offer the best service and contacted our suit hire company who were happy for their suits to travel.

'The suits were ordered and taken over by family members. Luckily no luggage was lost by the airlines, all were returned safely.'

About being trusted to get the suits to Australia, Philip said: 'It was a very tight squeeze but luckily the weather was very warm so I got away with very little luggage of my own.

'However, it was a little nerve-wracking to be entrusted with the wardrobes of the entire male half of the wedding party!

'Had it not been for Ian's help it would have been impossible. It just shows what can be done with good quality service and a business who are always prepared to go the extra mile — or 20,000 in this case!'