A man dying of a brain tumour has fulfilled his last wish by marrying his fiancee after 16 years together.

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Colin Taylor, 64, discovered he had a brain tumour when he went to see his doctor 10 days ago complaining of a terrible headache.

He tied the knot with his long-term partner Shelagh Viney, 61, at Le Manoir Aux Quat' Saisons in Great Milton, after doctors told him he had only weeks to live.

The newly-married couple said they were delighted to finally get hitched.

Mrs Taylor said: "I am very happy. He has been my best friend since I met him.

"The most important thing about marriage is to marry your best friend."

Mr Taylor, a company director, was trying to keep the wedding a surprise from his bride-to-be, but family members let the secret slip just three days before the ceremony.

The couple, who have both been married before, live in Eynsham and have six children and three grandchildren between them.

They had arranged to marry in Las Vegas this summer, but brought the big day forward after receiving the terrible news.

Speaking before the marriage, Mr Taylor, who is being cared for at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Woodstock Road, Oxford, described their 16-year relationship as "a long honeymoon".

He said: "We were going to get married anyway -- this has just brought it on a bit quicker. I'm very happy and Le Manoir is a nice setting for the wedding."

They exchanged vows before a small gathering of close family, including the bride's four children -- Arabella Pritchett, Prudi Viney, John Viney and Henrietta Gaffney, who travelled from Brisbane, Australia.

The groom's daughter Debbie Chandler, 38, a paramedic, was there, but his other daughter, Susie DiIorio, 36, is heavily pregnant with twins and was unable to travel from her home in Australia.

His mother Gladys Legg, 97, travelled to the wedding by taxi from Essex.

Mr Taylor, a keen golfer who spends part of the year in the Loire Valley in France, moved to Oxfordshire in 1980 and met his future bride shortly afterwards.

He was director of Abingdon Carpets for 16 years and later went on to become chairman of an Oxfordshire computer firm.

His brother Graham, who travelled from Yorkshire for the wedding, said: "This is Colin's dying wish -- to marry Shelagh."

Mrs Taylor, who owns furniture and interior design shop, Shelagh Viney, in Witney, known locally as the 'Aladdin's Cave', said: "My children have made all the arrangements, I literally knew nothing about it.

"We had always planned to get married but this year we actually said let's go to Las Vegas. We should have done it ages ago and it's weird we haven't. We have just been really great friends."

The couple stayed the night at Le Manoir Aux Quat Saisons and Mr Taylor was due to return to hospital today (March 1).