A COUPLE forced to scrap their wedding day because of a cash shortage are planning a lavish ceremony after winning £10,000 in a local radio station competition.

Louis Bell and Tracy Evans, both 27, were due to marry today, but money problems meant they had to cancel the ceremony.

The lovebirds, from Town End Farm, Sunderland, were so hard up that Tracy could only afford a second-hand dress and had to sell her engagement ring.

But they will marry in style next June after Louis won a competition to find the North-East's best joke on Century Radio's Goffy In The Morning Show yesterday.

Tracy plans to splash out on a new dress and buy a replica of the ring that she had to give up.

The couple's son, Ashton, two, who was treated to a toy fire engine to celebrate the win, will act as page boy.

Holy Trinity Church, Southwick, has been booked for the wedding service, followed by a big party at Castletown Working Men's Club, in Sunderland.

Louis said he was shocked when his joke - which is too near the knuckle for a family newspaper like The Northern Echo to repeat- won the prize after tickling the fancy of judge and veteran broadcaster Tony Blackburn.

He said: "We were devastated when we had to cancel the wedding. We didn't have a cake and we couldn't afford a photographer.

"But winning the competition will be a big help. I'm still surprised by it and it hasn't quite sunk in yet, though my mates have been asking if they could borrow a fiver."

Tracy, a dental nurse, said: "We have struggled since we first met with having the baby and the house, but this will make life a bit easier.

"We can afford to get married and this time we are going to have all the trimmings, which will make the day that extra bit special."

Disc jockey Paul Gough, host of Goffy In The Morning, said: "It's ironic they won this money just before the day they were supposed to get married. I'm delighted for them."