LONDON, July 10: A man flew all the way from Canada to Britain for a friend’s wedding — then realised he was a year too early, the self-confessed `berk’ told BBC radio on Tuesday.

David Best sent friend David Barclay an email at the start of this year which mentioned his wedding date of July 6.

Despite receiving no invitation, and thinking it was a bit odd to have a wedding on a Friday, expat teacher Barclay nonetheless booked his flights and jetted the 5,600 kilometres from Toronto to Cardiff, in Wales.

“I booked my ticket, paid 500 pounds to fly into Cardiff, got the old suit cleaned, the goatee trimmed, the head shaved — I was going to be the belle of the ball,” Barclay said.

“I called his mum to find his number and then I called him up and I said, ‘When and where is this wedding? It’s in a couple of days and I’d just like to know where I'm going.’

“He said to me, ‘Mate, it’s not this year, it's next year. 2008 not 2007’.” Only then did a whole list of other strange occurrences start to make any sense.

“I called his mum up and she didn't mention it at all. I didn't get an invitation, it was just on an email and I mentioned it to a friend we're both friends with and he didn’t know what I was talking about,” Barclay said.

“All these things came together and I thought, ‘Oh no, you berk.’ I'm a year early and my mates are loving it, aren’t they?—AFP

“At least it has assured me a mention in the speech next year, I reckon. Same time next year — I'll be there.”—AFP