Romantic Ted Names Truck After Wife.

12:00am Saturday 1st January 2000

A COUPLE'S passion for each other was only matched by their love of lorries -- and that love has been taken a step further.

Ted Johnson has dedicated an `Eddie Stobart' lorry to his wife.

On her first glimpse of `Benita Anne,' the lorry's namesake admitted to getting a lump in her throat.

Ted said: "Most people would choose to have a rose named after them but my wife has a lorry, and she is delighted."

The New Eltham couple started lorry spotting on journeys on the motorway.

The fleet of 800 Eddie Stobart vehicles are a distinctive green and yellow and are all named after women.

The fleet is now a phenomenon, boasting its own souvenir shop, an internet web site and a dedicated fan club with more than 25,000 members.

Benita Johnson, aged 60, of Cradley Road, thought it was "the most lovely thing".

She said: "Last year when we were on holiday in the Lake District my husband took me to the Eddie Stobart shop.

"What I didn't realise was that he wrote to Eddie asking if there was any chance of having a lorry named after me."

On the first of April, Benita found a letter on her doormat saying that a lorry had been named after her and at first thought it was a joke.

However a new Carlton television series called Motorway took Benita to see the lorry bearing her name.

Anyone interested in joining the Eddie Stobart lorries fan club should contact Bernita in The Arcade Bookshop in Eltham High Street.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000.Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.