IT WAS a long time coming - but the wait was worth it when Charles Cowley finally asked girlfriend Nora Read to marry him.

After living together for the past seven years, some thought it would never happen.

But Charles and Nora, 89 and 88 respectively, finally tied the knot at Southampton Register Office yesterday to become one of the country's oldest newlyweds.

The pair have been firm friends for more than half a century, going on double dates in the city during their first marriages.

When Charles' partner Gertrude died in 1945, his friendship with Nora and her husband Wilfred grew even stronger.

Wilfred died 14 years ago after collapsing at the wheel of his car with Charles, who was a passenger, steering it to safety.

Charles and Nora moved in together to retirement home Pembroke Court in Westwood Road, Portswood, Southampton, seven years later - and last month Charles proposed.

Home manager Margaret Bye said: "It's just lovely they are such a nice couple but because they've lived here together for so long I thought they would never get married."

She joked: "It was a bit of a shock when they announced it - I had to ask if they were doing it because she was pregnant!"

More than 30 of their family and friends attended the ceremony in Bugle Street before returning for a reception at the home.

The couple, who have no children from their previous marriages, said they intended to have a quiet wedding night but will travel to the Isle of Wight in the spring for a belated honeymoon.

Nora, a former electronics firm manager, said: "When I was offered the flat at Pembroke Court they said it was a two-bedroom one, so I had to get someone to move in with me so asked Charles.

"A month ago he just turned to me and said 'Don't you think it's about time we got married?'

"It was a really lovely wedding day."

Charles, a former draftsman at Southampton-based Ordnance Survey, who had Nora's 83-year-old brother-in-law Jack Leach as his best man, said: "We've got on for so many years so I just don't know why we didn't do it sooner."