You could cut the brick down to form a pistol, or cut the soldiers to suit(160mm?) or use a creasing tile on top of soldiers
What does your bricklayer say, is it the one who quoted £650 a thousand? or did you get someone cheaper, the going rate here in NW on sites is £700 min brick, £17 100mm block, insulation/lintels/cavity trays/detail work ie soldiers etc all paid extra, ready mixed mortar and materials placed next to working area.
This is one of the reasons private work is more expensive, i would want at least £1 a brick and £2 a block min, and extra for any daywork involved, and who pays me while waiting for scaffold/materials etc, i could lay nowhere near the amount i lay on site, so now i avoid extensions, not worth the hassle.