Britain's oldest wedding couple found love at the day centre

Their eyes met across a crowded day centre for elderly people. She told him she was lonely, he invited her for a drive to the beach and three days later he popped the question, though not on bended knee because of his creaky joints.

That was a month ago. Next week James Mason and Peggy Clark are to become Britain's oldest newly-weds with a combined age of 177 years. Mason, a former lord mayor of Torbay, is 93 while his intended is a mere 84. The couple will marry in front of 20 guests, including Mason's grown-up children, at the Palace hotel in Paignton, Devon, both agreeing there really was no point in a long engagement at their age.



Mason, a former hotel manager and a great-grandfather, joked: "She was after my body and I was after her money, so it's perfect. The day we met I took her on a drive to the beach and it was the best day's work I've ever done. We're very happy."

The British record for oldest new-weds was held by Raymond Robson, 96, who married Faye Webber, 90, in Goring, Berks, in 2005. She died three months ago.