A BUSINESSMAN is about to make a 1,300-mile road trip to honour a promise.

When a couple asked furniture shop owner Peter Dobson if he delivered, Mr Dobson was happy to oblige.

But he almost had a change of heart when he found out the address - the Loire Valley in France.

"I thought they were joking when they gave me the address," he said.

Mr Dobson, 36, of J&A Beds and Furniture, in Consett, County Durham, decided he had to be as good as his word.

On Saturday next week, he will pack the firm's box van with beds, wardrobes, and chests of drawers and set off for the Continent. "I have never driven abroad before, so it is going to be an experience," he said.

He runs the firm with his wife, Tracey. The couple have an outlet on the Drum Industrial Estate, in Chester-le-Street, and open-ed the store in Medomsley Road, Consett, last October.

The furniture is for Paul and Pamela McNicholas of Lanchester, near Durham, who have bought a holiday home near Tours.

Mrs McNicholas said: "We were delighted when we found someone to take the furniture across."

The couple are driving across via the Eurotunnel, and Mr Dobson - who is only charging them petrol money for the trip - will follow in the van.

Mr Dobson said: "At least once this is all over, I can honestly put on the side of the van that no distance is too far for us."