A BELT company from Bournemouth has sent one of its prize items to Gareth Southgate ahead of the Euro Championships to protect him from an embarrassing wardrobe malfunction during the showpiece event.

Having ditched the now famous blue suit and waistcoat combination worn at the World Cup in 2018, where England reached the semi-finals, the Three Lions manager will be wearing a light grey suit with a dark blue Pablo Cuban Knit shirt for Euro 2020.

However, having seen Gareth Southgate show off his new look during England’s warm up matches against Austria and Romania, Jonathan Porter, sales director of Coastal UK, noticed that the England boss was not wearing a belt.

He said: “We saw Gareth Southgate in his new suit in the friendly games before the start of the Euros, with his suit jacket and polo shirt combination, which was well publicised in the media.

Bournemouth Echo: Gareth Southgate walks off with Romania boss Mirel Radoi yesterday after England warmed up for the Euros with a 1-0 win at the Riverside Stadium Picture: PAUL ELLIS/AP POOL

“When I saw him, I noticed that he wasn’t wearing a belt. If England score a couple of goals and he leaps out of his chair, his trousers could well fall down.

“We don’t want the national manager to be embarrassed or a laughingstock.”

In a bid to spare the nation such shame, Mr Porter has sent off one of the company’s England themed belts, with the white and red of the St George’s flag, to the FA headquarters in St George’s Park.

Bournemouth Echo: The belt packaged and ready to be sent off to Gareth Southgate ahead of the Euros

“We felt that a suit should be completed with a belt, so we thought let’s finish him off with a showpiece belt to complete the look,” said Mr Porter.

“In the old days, belts should match the colour of the person's shoes, but we thought that the England manager deserved something special to wear for the Euros.

“Me and my staff are just trying to get him out of trouble. If he needs a bit of help, then we are there for him, and hopefully it can help the England football team to success in the tournament.”

Bournemouth Echo: Jon Porter, left, and some of the staff at Coastal UK wearing the Englands belts

Coastal UK, based in Boscombe, is the UK’s largest wholesaler and distributor of leather belts. The range also includes handbags, purses and luggage.

Having suffered due to a lack of orders during the height of the pandemic, Mr Porter said he was “encouraged” by a rise in sales in recent weeks.

“Covid has been very challenging. We are a business-to-business company, so we supply businesses across the UK and around the world with belts for both men and women.

“Sales really took a dip during the lockdowns but since we have started to open back up again, things have been quite encouraging. We are not back to where we were pre-pandemic, but things are looking alright for us.

“We have orders coming in from all around the world now, only yesterday we had an order come in from Mauritius, so we are still branching out to new markets.”

England are due to start their Euros campaign with a tough fixture against Croatia, who knocked them out of the last major tournament in 2018, on Sunday, with kick off at 2pm.