AN antiques dealer who lives at Upper Colwall had to seek help from two local companies when two cannons turned up on his doorstep at short notice.

Robin Wright had bought the two cannons from the owner of a country museum in Ducey, northern France, and ordered them to be delivered to his home at Brockhill Road.

He was at home when he got a phone call from the haulier, telling him that he was arriving with the guns in 30 minutes, but that he had no lifting equipment, and they were not even on pallets.

Since the cannon were ten feet long and weighed 2.3 tons each, this obviously posed a problem. But Mr Wright resourcefully got in touch two Malvern companies, County Building Supplies and English Braids. They had the equipment and the know-how he needed, and came to his rescue.

He said: "Believe it or not, the cannons were both successfully unloaded within the hour. The cannons were subsequently collected by an 80-foot pantechnicon from Kirkwall, in the Orkneys, when both these firms again gave invaluable assistance in loading.

"The people at both firms were really fantastic. I've never had to lift anything heavier than a Welsh dresser before."

The two cannons, dated 1808 and 1810, and genuine Napoleonic guns, are now situated on the ramparts of Balfour Castle in the Orkneys, a hotel which is said to be the most northerly castle hotel in the world.