A businesswoman has given up her £45,000-a-year job to live in a beach hut with the son of a Fijian tribal chief.

Joanne Rymell left her top London job for a round-the-world trip and stumbled across the tiny Pacific island where she met her future husband.

The 32-year-old, who was Nestle's first woman production manager, sold her £250,000 home in Epsom, Surrey, for the life-changing trip to the sunshine isle.

The university graduate, who is originally from Jarrow, South Tyneside, said she had had enough of her nine-to-five job and is now set to marry 40-year-old Epi Bolones, after a whirlwind romance.

Her proud mother, Ann, a lollipop lady, and father, Joe, are preparing to fly halfway around the world to see their daughter marry the tribesman who stole her heart on the island of Ovalau, Fiji, next month.

For Mr and Mrs Rymell, both 51, the two-day trip to meet their future son-in-law is an epic one.

Mrs Rymell says Joanne describes her living conditions as "very basic" - a hut, with no television, fridge and very little furniture.

She said: "They sit and eat on the floor, and they sleep on mattresses instead of beds, but she is really, really happy, and says she hasn't really missed home, except at Christmas."