There was only one problem when a couple, long-standing customers of North Yorkshire bed retailers To Catch A Dream, called in panic to say they were a bed short for visitors arriving the next day.

They were 1,000 miles away from the Harrogate-based store and the bed had to be delivered and dressed in time for the following evening.

It was too late to arrange for a commercial delivery company to make the journey from North Yorkshire to the "royal" ski-resort of Klosters in Switzerland. So To Catch A Dream managing director Terry Dixon and his son-in-law and fellow director Frank Nickerson, loaded the bed into their four-wheel drive and headed off at 3am.

They drove through the night to the Channel Tunnel at Folkestone and then carried on from Calais through France and on to the ski slopes, arriving at 8pm on Sunday evening. Mr Dixon said: "We arrived as our customers were sitting down to dinner with their visitors. We unloaded the bed and mattress, erected it in the bed room, dressed it with linen and had a quick bite to eat before setting off on the return journey."

The couple had already spent £25,000 with the Harrogate shop on beds and bedding for their homes in England and Switzerland. The new bed and bedding were worth about £3,000, but Mr Dixon did not charge them for delivery. He said: "We pride ourselves on outstanding customer service so when they rang in a panic to say they were a bed short and wanted one to match the rest of the furniture we had supplied, there was only one thing for it.

"It involved a 2,000 mile, 36 hour round trip but it meant their guests had a good night's sleep and we had one very happy customer.

"They did send a very nice box of the finest Swiss chocolates as a special thank-you."

Updated: 11:12 Wednesday, October 27, 2004