It is traditional to keep the groom waiting at the altar but if it wasn’t for the kindness of a complete stranger Mary Babe may never have got to the church to marry her sweetheart.

Nervously waiting was Sean Collis who expected her to arrive just before 3pm for their nuptials.

But as Mary was getting ready for the most important day in her life, disaster struck when the vintage car, a Silver Shadow Rolls Royce, which was meant to take her and her father Rob, to the church broke down on the way to collect her.

Mary, an English teacher, was almost ready to leave her in-laws’ home in Cuxton Road, Strood, when the car blew a gasket and ground to a halt near Four Elms Hill near Chattenden.

With the clock ticking and the bride stuck, a gleaming white Rolls Royce just happened to be passing its conked-out namesake.

Owner Mat Bushell, 30, from Wainscott, spoke to the driver and realised a bride was waiting. Like a knight in shining armour he sped off to collect her and get her to the St John Fisher Catholic Church, in Maidstone Road, Rochester.

The couple were meant to tie the knot at 3pm and thanks to Mr Bushell, who runs, Traditions Wedding Cars, they were able to marry half an hour later than expected.

Her husband, Sean, 30, a plumber, said: “My uncle had sorted out the vintage car for us as a surprise and it was meant to pick Mary up at 2.45pm.

“Then, as I was waiting in the church, my uncle got a call to say the car had broken down.

“I just laughed it off at first and thought he was making a joke.”

However, after a while he realised his uncle was serious and they all wondered what they could do to get Mary, who’d come from her native Canada to wed in Kent.

He added: “We joked at first saying she had gone back to Canada, but then I couldn’t believe it when she turned up in the Rolls Royce.

“It was incredible for him to help us like that, what are the chances of another wedding car passing the one that had broken down?

“We couldn’t believe the chances of it, we are so grateful to him, we can’t thank him enough.”

Mary joked a wedding wouldn’t be the same without a little hiccup.

She said: “Everyone around me was panicking about how I was going to get to the church and then there was a knock at the door and there was a Rolls Royce outside and a man saying he had come to take me to my wedding.

“I guess it’s fashionable to be late.

“It was lovely of him and he even waited for us to be married and took both of us back to our reception, which was in my in-laws’ back garden.

“It was a lovely car, perfect for the occasion - we can’t believe he waited the whole time too.”

Mr Bushell, 30, says he was happy to help out, adding: “I had just finished at a wedding which I helped out at the last minute.

“The car was all set up with its ribbons as I had just finished that wedding, so I pulled over to see if I could help.

“I couldn’t just leave them at the church; I had to finish the job as I would do for any bride and groom.”

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