A COUPLE from Chagford celebrated their diamond wedding anniversary in style, with a gigantic bottle of champagne!

Hugh and Sheila Rogers received the champagne as a gift from their son Neville.

Known as a Nebuchadnezzer, the bottle is one of the largest available for champagne. It holds 15 litres of champagne, the equivalent of 20 standard bottles, and weighs 38 kilograms.

Hugh said: 'My son Neville surprised us with such a wonderful gift.

'We had a party of 120 of us at Throwleigh Village Hall, all with friends and family. It was a lunchtime do, with family from seven different countries, it was a great day.

'The day before the party, we had to keep the champagne cool so we took it to AL Martin, the local butcher. They kept it in their meat locker for us! The champagne was delicious! It worked out perfectly that each one of our 120 guests got a glass, and the bottle was empty. Perfect!'

Neville bought the bottle from Best Cellars in Chagford.

Jonathan Richards, who works at Best Cellars, said: 'This size is the largest champagne bottle readily available.

'This bottle is the first one I've ever sold, and the first I've ever seen! I've been working in the liquor trade for 40 years, so it's certainly a rare occasion to sell one.

'In the last 30 years I've only known of one being sold in the entire region. The bottles have to be specially blown, so it pushes the price up. It's an expensive but fantastic present.

'It's great that Mr and Mrs Rogers enjoyed their champagne so much, and we are happy to have helped make their anniversary special.'