It was bride Alison Tucker’s dream to arrive at the church in a £300,000 silver Rolls Royce Phantom.

But after the top of the range car failed to show, instead of a chauffeur driven limousine decked with ribbons with a bottle of champagne on ice, she spent the wedding day journey crammed in the back of a less than glamorous Vauxhall Vectra.

It was the beginning of a wedding day nightmare that ended with a streak of oil down the back of her dress.

Mrs Tucker, 31, booked a silver Rolls Royce Phantom, decked with ribbons and champagne, to take her and her bridesmaids to St Mark’s Church in Purley for her wedding on September 18.

But after a series of frantic calls from her parents’ house in Wallington it became clear the car they had hired from ABC Limos in Croydon was not going to arrive.

Mrs Tucker’s father, Graham Baldwin, said: “I could not believe it. No one knew where the car or the driver was.

“In the end our neighbour, who was out cleaning his windows, had to dash in, get changed and take us in his Vauxhall Vectra.

“We had hired a photographer to come to the house and we lost all the photos of me getting into the car with my daughter and arriving at the church all proud.

“In the panic, Alison forgot her earrings and my wife left her handbag and a horseshoe she had made for Alison.

“The groom thought she had changed her mind.”

The family had no idea if a car would be waiting to take Alison to the reception at Woldingham Golf Club.

When they came out there was blue Bentley waiting, with ribbons but no champagne.

Mr Baldwin said: “It was inappropriate for a wedding.

“Alison got a long grease mark on the back of her wedding dress from the door.

“We have taken the dress to the cleaners but they cannot guarantee it will come off. It cost £745 and is irreplaceable.”

A spokeswoman for ABC Limos said the Rolls Royce had been sub-contracted from another company.

She said: “As soon as we were aware the car had not turned up we sent another car free. We are in discussions with the customer about compensation.”