AN ADVENTUROUS couple are set to take a slow boat out of East Lancashire to make a new start in China.

Shirley Johnson and Keith Norton are swapping Accrington for the more cosmopolitan Kunming, known as the City of Eternal Spring, in the South West of the country.

Shirley, 39, who has managed a Preston Sure Start scheme for three years and formerly ran the town's Youth Offending Team (YOT), is taking up a post in charge of a project developing non custodial sentences for young offenders - China's equivalent of the YOT.

Keith, a probation liaison officer at Burnley Crown Court, is planning a break from the criminal justice system and is looking at helping Chinese students to learn English.

Shirley, who is originally from Lewisham, and Warrington-born Keith have been together almost a decade and met when they were working in London at a homeless offenders' unit.

The couple fell in love with China when they first visited the country about five years ago and didn't think twice about jumping at the chance of a once in a lifetime opportunity.

Shirley and Keith are due to leave England in mid-October.

Keith, who has been based at the court for about eight years, said: "It was the right job for Shirley in the right place. China has just grabbed the pair of us."

Shirley will have an interpreter to help her out at work but the couple obviously hope to pick up the native tongue during their stay.

Keith is hoping to start his day in China in typical oriental fashion - he is a keen follower of the non-combat martial art of tai chi and plans to joins dozens of other people in the regular morning sessions in Green Lake Park near his new home.

Although the couple have not visited Kunming, which borders Vietnam and Burma, they have travelled 1,000 miles down the Yangtse and visited Beijing and The Great Wall on their two visits to China.