A father-and-son from Ledbury have been helping Disney to promote its latest film, Herbie: Fully Loaded.

Chris and Kevin Smith, of Homend Crescent, have recently returned from the south-coast promotional tour for Capital Disney, taking in Great Yarmouth, Southend, Brighton and Bournemouth.

The two halves of the local business Smithsound provided the mobile stage and sound system for the tour, including performances by chart bands Uniting Nations, Free Faller and Triple 8.

Mr Smith snr, a qualified sound engineer, said: "It was an absolutely fantastic experience, although we only saw bits of the new film."

But the Smiths did manage to get close to the star of the movie, the famous Herbie, a Volkswagen Beetle.

The Bournemouth event was actually filmed by Disney as a mini-film for children's television.

The Ledbury business was tracked down through the internet by a London-based promotions company, which then recommended Smithsound to Disney.

Chris and Kevin are becoming no strangers to showbusiness contracts.

This summer they provided sound and support for the UK Children's Story-time tour, to help promote the cartoon character Sponge Bob Squarepants.

On that occasion, they provided the stage and sound for the up-and-coming boy band, The Bed Heads.

They have also worked at the Shrewsbury Music Festival and have been booked again for next year's event.

Smithsound provided equipment for the 2004 English Festival. But Mr Smith said his one regret is that although business is booming, they do not get more bookings to support local events.