A DROITWICH dad sat tight for four months waiting for his new sofa - only to be told asylum seekers were to blame for the delay.

Frustrated Rob Anthony says Lush, in Bromsgrove, told him he would be sitting pretty within 10 weeks, but claims he was given a catalogue of excuses for the mammoth wait.

The final straw came when Lush told him the train on which the £1,000 leather sofa was being transported had been held up by customs officials searching for asylum seekers.

"That just did it for me," said dad-of-three Mr Anthony.

"The bloke on the phone was quite rude and said it wasn't his fault. He said it was out of his hands."

Mr Anthony, aged 32, said the company failed to contact him to advise him of the delays, and he was so angry he demanded his £200 deposit back.

"I've had to chase them all the way," he fumed. "After 10 weeks, which is their standard delivery time, it still wasn't here, so I called them.

"They said there would be a delay because the factory in Italy had shut for four weeks and I'd have to wait a further 10 weeks.

"They promised me faithfully it would be delivered by Monday, October 7. It wasn't, so I phoned them.

"They said it was in the country, but was waiting to come up on the train to the distribution centre. The train had been held up by customs officers searching for asylum seekers."

Mr Anthony and his fiance Donna ordered the sofa on Thursday, June 20, a month before they moved into their new home in Broadmeadow.

"Now we're sitting on some raggedy old thing because it hasn't arrived," said Mr Anthony, a project manager.

Lush manager Richard Jackson admitted there could be delays with customs, believed to be because of asylum seekers.

But he said Mr Anthony had been offered a refund at every stage.

"We also offered him a reduction in the price at one point and he took it and agreed to wait.

"However, it was anticipated the delivery would be last week and this didn't happen, so we've given him his deposit back."