AN Italian who arrived in Herefordshire when he was 17 has just completed a commission for The Prince of Wales.

Giuliano 'Julian' Masetti, who lives in Clehonger, was asked to tie a set of fishing flies in honour of The Prince of Wales.

The fly, designed and dressed by Donald Downes of the Flyfishers' Club, was tied with minor modifications by Julian and presented to Prince Charles earlier this month.

"I was asked if I would like to make some flies for the future king, how could I refuse?" recalls Giuliano, who is world-renowned as a leading maker of fishing flies.

The fly has been named the Ich Dien after the motto of the Prince of Wales, and has been created to include several references to elements of his life - the tag is blue for his love of the Royal Navy.

Giuliano first came to Hereford in 1963, persuaded by Leslie Rochford and his wife to give life in England a try.

The young Giuliano worked in Leslie's fish and chip shop, The Old Black and White, which stood on what is now the junction of Commercial Road and Commerical Street.

And it was while working in the shop that he met his future wife, Leslie's niece Denise. The couple have two sons, Lyndon and Carl, both of whom now live in Italy.

In 1990 Giuliano and Denise moved to Kenya where he was managing director of one of the world's leading fly-tying companies, leaving in 1994 to start his own business, GM Flies, also based in Kenya.

Members of the Flyfishers' Club have also been presented with examples of the Ich Dien fly, with a magnum of champagne on offer to the first member to catch a salmon using the fly.