A GWENT bride-to-be "thai-ed" the knot on Saturday when she arrived for her big day in the back of a tuk-tuk.

Friends sprung the wedding day surprise on bride-to-be Sharon Duran-Phillips on Saturday morning, just hours before her wedding to Stephen Smith.

Tuk-tuk owner Mike Jones arrived at the bride's home in Cross Keys and took her to St Basil's Church in Bassaleg.

After the service he took the newlyweds to their wedding reception in Cross Keys.

Mr Jones recently bought the vehicle from Newport businessman Michael Williams, who builds the £7,500 EU-approved tuk-tuks in Thailand. Mike said: "The bride didn't know a thing about it until I knocked on the door. Her face was a picture and she thoroughly enjoyed it.

"One of her friends had seen our adverts and booked us. It is the first wedding I have done and we had a great day. I was really chuffed at the end of it.

"Some people are a bit hesitant, but once they have tried it then everyone seems to enjoy it."

Mr Jones said the business was starting to take off, and his tuk-tuk, named after the distinctive noise made by the Thai vehicles' two-stroke engines, was booked for a number of events during the summer.

"Things are starting to pick up after a slow start. I know Michael is sending 15 to Brighton council to take people up and down the seafront. "If they could be licensed to take fare-paying passengers in Newport, then they would be a great gimmick."