A couple who saw their wedding plans destroyed by a hurricane have had their preparations blown back on course thanks to a generous Bocking landowner.

Nicola Holmes and Vernon Brooks, both 41, were forced to cancel their wedding in Grenada on September 10 after Hurricane Ivan devastated the small Caribbean island and left their hotel with no electricity, damaged telephone lines and limited supplies of food and drinking water.

Ned Tabor, owner of the Fennes Estate in Bocking, heard about the couple's plight when they appeared on a regional news programme.

He immediately offered the pair a free wedding - worth £6,000 - at the Georgian country house, set in 100 acres of countryside.

Mr Tabor said: "It was just an instinctive response and I thought Nicola deserved a silver lining."

Published Friday, December 17, 2004

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