The story of Wishful and Bart Simpson, an Oxford couple who met on the Internet, is enough to melt the coldest heart.

Sue Jefferies stayed on after work last year to try out the Lonely Hearts column.

Within two minutes she was logged on to the Blind Date page, had entered her details and called herself Wishful.

"I said I was tired of kissing frogs who turned into toads instead of princes," she said.

"As I drove home I began thinking - what have I done? But then I realised I had nothing to lose."

Besides, the 34-year-old divorcee had not met anyone she liked in her village, Eynsham.

Two days later she received numerous messages, including one from Steve, a tax-inspector, and another man who called himself Stud!

But the one that caught her eye was from Bart Simpson, who described himself as a good-looking, green-eyed pilot.

She replied and they e-mailed each other for several days before Gary phoned and suggested a meeting a few hours later.

"He sounded really nice but I only had two hours to get ready. I raced around cleaning, polishing, tidying, deciding what to wear and getting ready. My heart was pounding and I felt like a schoolgirl about to go on her first date.

"And then came the dreaded knock on the door, but as soon as I opened it and saw him I knew it would be all right," Sue remembered.

It turned out that it was his first time on a blind date as well. They went to her local pub and then for a meal. By the time they got home, they were both ready to confess that they were already smitten with each other.

Since then Gary, 33, has moved in and his Harlow home is up for sale. He has also moved jobs and is working for Sony in Basingstoke.

"We have talked about having kids and getting married. He is definitely the one for me. We have got the same sense of humour," Sue swooned.

And her advice to other lonely hearts: "Have a go, you've got nothing to lose. And they don't know who you are or where you live until you're ready to tell them. Gary was resigned to never finding the right one for him and look at us now.

"I used to think finding love on a computer was nerdy. But so much has changed in the last few years including the Internet's image."

Since then Sue has landed a new job as a media sales co-ordinator.

"It's fantastic. The Internet got me a job and a man," she laughed.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.