PENSIONERS Phyllis Prewett and Jim Smith are finally getting married.

Mr Smith, 78, has been badgering him for marry him for 20 years - and finally she has said yes.

A Rolls-Royce was collecting her to take her to St Peter's Church, Didcot, today for the ceremony.

Mrs Prewett, 77, said: "He has been asking me to marry him every week for the last 20 years.

"A woman is entitled to change her mind. We are in love and feel passionate about each other."

Mr Smith, her lodger for 22 years, said: "She always replied 'No'. I was over the moon when she accepted me."

Both Mrs Prewett and Mr Smith were married first time round in register offices.

Now they have opted for a church wedding at St Peter's, barely 100 yards from their home in Lynmouth Road.

It is all thanks to a lonely hearts ad which Phyllis's daughter, now Susan Murphy, put in the Oxford Mail in 1976 for her mother for "a bit of fun". Phyllis, a widow, recalled: "I wasn't looking for a marriage partner - just a companion."

Widower Jim, who was living at Eynsham, turned up on her doorstep and was immediately "bowled over by her eyes and her pretty face".

They both enjoyed dancing and quickly became the closest of friends. But Phyllis insisted: "Jim was a lodger. There was nothing silly, and we had separate bedrooms."

Jim, a former special constable and crane driver at the Pressed Steel car works, Cowley, courted Phyllis with chocolates and flowers.

He said: "I love her kindness and generosity. We have supported each other." Phyllis was an office worker and manager of the former Parslows Bakery, Didcot, before she retired.

She added: "Before he retired, he telephoned me from work four times a day. Every time he sees me he still says he loves me."

Today's wedding might have been called off after Phyllis, who has Parkinson's Disease, fell head first down the stairs at a granddaughter's home and had to have a major operation to fit a pin in her broken arm.

She is still in pain from the injured arm and five broken ribs.

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