LOVESTRUCK Chris Jones laughs it off when strangers think her husband Rob is her son - after all she is old enough to be his mum.

The 49-year-old novelist fell in love with Rob Marshall instantly when he came to her for a job interview and she went all starry-eyed despite him being nearly 20 years her junior.

"I had lost my virginity and passed my driving test before Rob was even born but it just hasn't made a difference to us," said Chris.

Rob was 24 then and towards the end of an unhappy relationship. Chris, who had separated from her husband, was looking after her daughter Laura, now 21, and her sick father.

But against all odds the happy couple have proved that the age gap has not made any difference to their relationship.

The couple bought their first house together in August 1993 in Darrell Way, Abingdon, and married on November 5 the same year, with a big firework party afterwards. And they're still blissfully happy.

It hasn't been all smooth-running, though. Chris, Rob and Laura have been to restaurants where the waiters have assumed Chris is the mother and Laura and Rob are the dating couple.

"We went out one night and the waiter sat Rob and Laura as closely together as possible and then said to me: 'And what is mum having to eat?'

"We all found it hysterical but I didn't tell him because he would have been so embarrassed.

"Then when my dad was in hospital, the doctor told me I could go in but my 'children' should stay outside. Even when I went to my new job to tell them I couldn't start on the day they wanted me to because it was my father's funeral, the woman took one look at Rob and said 'Well, at least you have a nice strong son to look after you'," said Chris.

But this only amuses her and nothing will change the way she feels about her dream man. "We met in 1992 when I had to interview Rob for a temporary job at an engineering company in Didcot.

"When Rob walked in, I was in the middle of a phone call but I just went totally silent and thought 'Wow!'," laughed Chris.

"It was odd because I had always gone for small, dark, anorexic-looking men and here I was melting over a big, blond, rugby player.

"He had to fill in an application form so I practically broke my neck trying to read upside down and see what he was writing.

"When I saw he was single, I was absolutely thrilled! But then I saw how old he was and I thought 'Oh no'!" Rob, now 30, started his three-month job the next day, much to Chris's delight, but she didn't realise he had only taken the job to find out more about her. "Chris had a brilliant personality and when she smiled her whole face glowed. The job was really badly paid but I was so intrigued that I took it," said Rob. As the three months passed, Rob and Chris had become very close friends although it never went any further.

They found out they had a lot in common - they both support Chelsea Football Club and love cats - they now live with 17 cats which they have rescued.

"It was all really very innocent but I realised how much I would miss Rob when he had left the job," Chris admitted.

At Rob's leaving party he devised a plan to see how Chris felt about him.

"I decided to test Chris out and got my sister Alison to come to my leaving do and I introduced her to Chris and told her Alison was my girlfriend," said Rob. "Chris was seething and I could see she was upset and I thought 'Ha ha, gotcha'!"

Chris's daughter Laura was happy about the relationship from the start, despite being closer to Rob's age than her mum is and the two get on well.

"Laura sees Rob as a big brother rather than a father figure but they get on really well. Age has never been a problem," said Chris.

"I'm totally confident that he will never leave me. Laura brings lots of her friends home and they do flirt but I never find it threatening. "Laura even buys Rob's clothes for him!"

Rob said: "I have grown up a hell of a lot. I'm still incredibly childish but only when the time is right. I think we will grow old disgracefully together."

Our picture shows lovestruck Chris and Rob Gap? What gap? DEBBIE Leek, spokesman for Relate Marriage Guidance, said this about age-gap relationships: "The relationship can work to start with but then the different interests and different ages of friends may start to cause a few problems.

"At a deeper level there may be the more psychological need - although I don't mean this couple in particular - a typical scenario may be an older man/younger woman where she is looking for a father figure and he is looking for someone to look after.

"You can meet someone and it is like an instant chemistry and the bond is so strongly made - as long as you are both in it together I don't see a problem."

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