I have looked at hire I may do that in the future if a I NEED a big lens in the 500mm (ish) range but I can't really see me needing that at the moment.
I'm 20min from Cardiff os have hire options. The only thing that did P me off a little when i asked in Jacobs was the hire price was quite good, 70-200mm F2.8 IS L was £24 for the weekend, but because the lens is at their London store I have to pay an extra £20 for them to get it in for me to hire

. I really do object to paying the postage for them to be able to hire me a lens. If it was posted to me at home I may go for it but not if I have to pay for fuel and parkign twice to collect and return it to the shop.