A man who was raised in the Isle of Man has travelled to Dubai to personally deliver a box of Manx kippers to his friend.

62 year old Tommy Temperley, who currently lives in Blackburn, picked up the kippers while on holiday in the island before travelling to the middle east and delivering it to his long-time friend Ian Wilson, who also spent his childhood in the island.

Tommy said that Ian had expressed how much he missed Devereau’s kippers, which made him decide to do it.

Established in 1884 by the Devereau family, the popular fishmongers are based in Castle Street, Douglas, and are one of the few remaining kipper stores left in the island.

Tommy said: ‘I come over to the Isle of Man every two months for a long weekend catching up with friends, and I always call in at Devereau's for some kippers.

‘Ian mentioned to me on one of my visits to Dubai how he missed his Manx kippers and wished he could have some, so on my last visit before I was due to go to Dubai I thought it would be a nice surprise to get some and take them to him.’

Tommy currently owns a fabrics company in the north west of England, while Ian is a chief principal surveyor at Aalto Marine Services in Dubai.

The pair both attended King William’s College, and first met each other there in the 1970s.

Tommy continued: ‘My parents were living in Saudi Arabia and in the early 1970s there were no English schools there, so the Isle of Man and KWC was seen as a good place to move to. It was also easy for me to commute to my parents in the holidays.

‘This is where I met Ian, who was also a student there and Manx born and bred. We have been great friends ever since.’

Tommy travels to Dubai and the Isle of Man with his wife Kayla, with the pair next heading off on the long trip to the sun-soaked city on September 5.