Two Bristol Volkswagen enthusiasts whose jobs are at risk are hoping to steer themselves away from financial uncertainty by hiring out camper vans as wedding cars.

Nigel Bankhead and his partner Deborah Godfrey, from Bishopsworth, have followed their passion for classic VWs in a bid to keep their heads above water after seeing their jobs at a Bristol building firm hit by the recession.

After their pay and hours were scaled back, they are hopeful discerning brides and grooms will back their new business by choosing to hire a trendy van for their big day.

They have invested £40,000 in their company VW Split Screens, following in the tyre tracks of similar successful businesses in Cardiff and Essex.

Surveyor and former scaffolder Mr Bankhead, 43, said: "We are working for a building company which was heavily reliant on sub-prime lending.

"Six months ago I was asked to take a £15,000 pay cut and reduce my hours to three days a week and since then I've had to take another pay cut to keep my job.

"Myself and my partner both have properties which we rent out but we are not making any money on them and my partner has lost lots of money on Tessas and Isas. Redundancy is imminent because we haven't done any new building work now for three months.

"Looking six months down the line, I can't see it picking up to full-time hours so we've had to reinvent ourselves to keep one step ahead and we are both avid Volkswagen fans.

"We are sailing very close to the wind but hopefully, we should see some money coming back in from it."

The couple's two six-seater vehicles, which were bought for £6,500 each, are being restored and reupholstered by Hengrove Bodyworks.

One, a 1967 green and cream VW van which had been used as a minibus for a postal company in Germany, has been finished. The second, a 1966 cream Westfalia SO42 van formerly used in America, is two weeks away from being ready.

Each vehicle has had its dated interiors stripped and replaced with modern upholstery and finishes using parts imported from Brazil and Germany.

Mr Bankhead, whose partner Ms Godfrey, 51, works as a secretary, said: "We are advertising them as alternative wedding vehicles.

"Quite a few people use limos or hummers, or even fire engines. The South West has the biggest following of split screens and VW transporters. People do them up and there's a big surfer community that uses them.

"It's something different. People have been coming up to us and saying we have done a lovely job of restoring them.

"I'm quietly confident people will rent them."

Nick Grant, owner of Hengrove Bodyworks who has a VW camper van of his own, said: "The VWs have a good following and if you pull up in one, you get a lot of attention."