WHEN lonely hearts sweethearts Theresa Cooper and Kevin Gould tie the knot next week, it will prove that persistence pays off.

Theresa, 45, had nearly given up hope of finding the man of her dreams when Kevin gave her a call.

She said: "I had been out on a few dates with men who contacted me after I placed my ad in the Daily Echo and I had been on a few disastrous dates.

"I was fed up with the whole thing and when I saw there were messages on my answerphone I rang them back and said I wasn't interested.

"But Kevin just wouldn't take no for an answer," explained Theresa, of Pennine Road, Millbrook.

At first Kevin, 44, had shied away from answering the lonely hearts ads but, having moved to the city from Stoke-on-Trent and working shifts, he found it difficult to meet women.

"I was sharing a house with a dentist and it was he who persuaded me to have a go.

"When Theresa said she wasn't interested, I persuaded her that we could keep in touch as friends," he said.

They spoke regularly on the phone and then started writing to each other. After nearly four months, they finally met face-to-face.

"We had arranged to meet at the Standing Order pub in town and I turned up early because I didn't want to be late - and I saw this woman at the bar having a drink and realised it was Theresa," said Kevin.

"The first time we met Theresa told me she didn't fancy me but we stayed friends, went out on a few double dates and it went on from there."

Nearly five months later the couple were engaged but it was during a holiday together in Greece that they decided to marry.

Twice-married Theresa admits she was cautious in the beginning and needed to be sure Kevin would be accepted by her family of four children - Kelly, 26, Lisa, 23, Robert, 20 and David, 15.

But having been reluctant to start the relationship, the couple are now together literally night and day.

Theresa now works at the same company as Kevin, who has a daughter Kerry, 24, and two grandchildren, Bethany, 5, and four-week-old Nathan.

Eighty guests will join the couple as they celebrate their pink-themed wedding on Saturday, June 18 at Southampton Register Office.