A TORQUAY couple welcomed two surprise hairy guests to their wedding at Haldon Belvedere.

Hercules the alpaca and Dusty the llama were the unexpected guests enjoying the celebrations at the marriage of Claire Ashton and Neil Barnett, of St Luke's Road North.

The couple are huge llama fans and were delighted to welcome the four-legged pair to their special day.

Claire explained: "We've both got a thing about alpacas and the last time we went to Haldon Belvedere we saw a field of them from the top, and that's why we wanted to get married there.

"We have two poodles in the family and for a joke we talked about them looking like llamas and being our ringbearers.

"For a surprise my sister Kate contacted Lakeham Farm near Belvedere and asked them if they would bring a llama to our wedding, which they did. It was a bit of a special moment really."

Claire added: "There were some llamas born there on our wedding day and we have been back to the farm to visit them."

The couple first met as friends in 1981, when they were both students. They went to different universities and met up again in Torquay three years ago.

Neil, 41, is a furniture salesman in Newton Abbot while Claire teaches at Cockington Primary School and also works as a masseuse.

Claire is the youngest daughter of Maureen and Peter Ashton of Paignton and the bridegroom is the only son of Joan and Jim Barnett of Torquay.

The bride was attended by her twin sister Kate Ashton and her nieces Charlotte and Rebecca Knaggs.

The bridegroom's sisters Alison and Rachel Barnett were his best women.

After the civil ceremony, the bride and groom together with their family and friends travelled to Dartmoor where they made their own vows to each other in a Pagan midsummer handfasting ceremony near the Dewerstone at Goodameavy.

Claire said: "I always wanted to get married outside but it's not a legal part of the ceremony in England at the moment so we did this as an add-on.

"Dartmoor is a very special place to my family. My dad was brought up there during the war and we used to go there regularly as kids and it's always been a place I wanted to be on my wedding day.

"The ceremony was fun, but also meaningful to us."

The ceremony was led by the couple's close friend Esther Whittlesea-Reed.

The pair enjoyed a honeymoon on the Greek island of Santorini.