A couple who called off their engagement 60 years ago are "over the moon" after getting married in Stevenage.

Len Charles Allbrighton, 79, and Jeannette Steer, who turns 78 later this month, met on the Isle of Wight in 1963 and got engaged later that year, but they never tied the knot.

Jen was born and raised in Cowes and has lived on the Isle of Wight for most of her life, while Len moved to the island from Middlesex.

They went to the same school, but did not know eachother, finally meeting as teenagers at St Mary’s Hospital, where they worked on the same ward as trainee nurses.

The pair dated for a few months before Len asked Jen to marry him, but he decided he hated ‘The Big Freeze’ of 1963, opting to move to Australia in June.

He planned to head down under for the compulsory two years, get a plot of land, build a house and then return to marry Jen, before taking her back with him to Australia.

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But, back in the early 1960s, the age of consent was 21, and Jen’s parents would not allow her to leave, so she called off the engagement. 

The couple went their separate ways, with Len marrying another woman in Australia.

After returning to the UK, he became a district nurse in Stevenage and had been divorced for 27 years when he decided to look up Jen to see if "she was still alive".

Jen was still living on the island, working as a district nurse and marrying another man.

Travelling back to the Isle of Wight, Len went to the library to find out more details, and after finding her address, went and stood outside her house. 

Jen came outside to find out who the stranger was "looking up at her house", but did not recognise him after 52 years.

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He explained to her who he was, but it was not until Jen’s husband and Len’s ex wife had died that they got together again.

The pair got engaged for a second time, and Jen moved to Stevenage, where Len had been living since 1972. 

"I’m over the moon. It was a long time coming, but we’re here now, and that’s it," Jen told the Isle of Wight County Press.

The wedding was held 60 years to the month since the couple met and five years to the day since Jen moved to live with Len.

After finally getting married, Len said: "We had a wonderful wedding on Saturday, the weather was fine, and we had a reception at the Cromwell Hotel in Stevenage."