IT IS a story which could have been taken straight from the pages of a romantic novel – a single man is hoping to track down a woman from Basing-stoke he met on holiday, after returning home and realising she could be the one for him.

James Nunn met a woman called Paula while he was on holiday with his family in Cuba from December 24 to January 7.

The 50-year-old, from Ipswich, claims the pair had a connection, but he failed to take her number. When he returned from his holiday, he realised his mistake – and he is now pinning his hopes on finding Paula through The Gazette.

The driving instructor has paid for an advert to appear in last Thursday's  edition – on page 28 – with the hope that Paula, who he thinks runs a cleaning business, will see it and get in touch.

James whose previous marriage ended after two years, when he was in the military, believes this could be his second chance at finding happiness.

He said he and Paula had both booked their holiday through Thomas Cook, staying in Guardalavaca at the Hotel Sol Rio De Luna Mares resort.

James recalled: “We had a bit of harmless flirting and I wish I had got some sort of contact details from her. I went back to the travel agents to see if they could help, but they couldn’t give out any details for confidentiality reasons.”

He added: “We are both Chelsea fans and I think we had a connection. I got the impression she was flirting with me. I figured nothing could happen but I can’t put her out of my mind. It’s distracting me.”

James enlisted the help of his niece to try to find Paula on Facebook, but without knowing her surname, it proved to be an impossible task.

He said: “She was with a girlfriend who I knew as ‘Miss Millwall’ because she was a Millwall fan.

“When you get to my age, you think your chances are few and far between. But if I don’t find her, I will always look back and think she’s the one who got away.

“She might blow me out but something good might come of it. I want to come to Basingstoke and win her heart.”