A ROMANTIC break for two in Italy led to more than one Forest couple ever expected, ending in an epic 1,650km race to get home ... on a 150cc scooter with a top speed of 45mph!

Andrew Horne and his girlfriend, Catherine Elsmore, were on a four day break in Rome when volcanic ash clouds blocked any chance of returning home by plane.

"There were no flights at all, and no idea of when the next flight would be," says Andrew, who runs the Club Ginger gym in Lydney. "We were being pressed about whether we'd need our hotel rooms. It was costing £200 a day, what with meals and you certainly got the impression that prices were going up to take a bit of advantage."

Letting the train take the strain was out of the question because of a French rail strike. Andrew initially thought of hiring cars, or even buying a Mini – in homage to 'The Italian Job' – but then inspiration struck while watching hordes of Lambrettas and Vespas scooting around the Italian streets.

He managed to get in touch with someone who sold him a classic 1970s Lambretta and together the couple set off, Catherine riding pillion with the luggage on a seat Andrew describes as "not that comfortable".

Heading north, the couple scootered to Milan, where Catherine managed to pick up a flight. Andrew then headed for the Alps, like Hannibal, but without an elephant.

"I did want to cross the Alps, but had to go through the Mont Blanc Tunnel, which was terrifying, with lorries right up my backside."

The reward was coasting through the A-roads of France, driving dawn to dusk and averaging about 400kms a day.

"It was beautiful. You see such a lot going so slow. I'd turn round and do it again straight away."

On the final stretch Andrew rode for 730kms in a day, catching the ferry from Caen to Portsmouth where he encountered the worst part of the trip – British drivers – before arriving for a pint at the Cross in Aylburton followed by a long sleep.