Tycoon Mohamed Al Fayed played a big part in personally ensuring Harrods store's 'Glorious Twelfth' game display was the freshest in the UK - thanks to a bang on target performance by Atherstone-based express delivery giant TNT.

Mr Al Fayed, holidaying at his Scottish estate near Inverness, wanted to be sure he bagged the first wild grouse with the opening of the shooting season on Saturday.

After many hours stalking the birds, Mr Al Fayed finally had some success by Sunday afternoon.

He instructed his staff at the estate that the first brace of birds shot had to be in the food hall of the Knightsbridge department store by 8am yesterday. So, at 4pm on Sunday TNT Sameday swung into action and collected the birds.

The 600-mile journey from Mr Al Fayed's 65,000-acre Balnagown Estate, north of Inverness, went without a hitch and the grouse formed the centrepiece of the display in the stores main food hall.

Martin Pawsey, TNT Sameday manager at the Inverness depot, said: "We were asked by the estate on Friday if this sort of delivery would be possible.

"This posed no problem for TNT Sameday - the only problem the estate foresaw was the fact that it hasn't apparently been a very good breeding season for grouse and they weren't too sure if Mr Al Fayed would actually bag any.

"In the end, Mr Al Fayed was successful by Sunday afternoon. We were delighted to be of service to Mr Al Fayed. It's our job to get consignments to their destination on time, every time - no matter how unusual."

Mr Al Fayed bought the Balnagown Estate, which is the ancestral seat of the Ross clan, in 1972 - the first property he owned outright in the UK. He has spent almost £20 million in that time restoring the castle and the estate grounds into popular tourist attractions.