FINDING the right moment to pop the question - or even ask for a date - is not easy.

But Blackburn man Paul Jump waited 12 years with a yellowing Christmas card under his bed before he was sure the time was right for Cupid to strike.

He married childhood sweetheart Gill last August after spending years trying to catch her eye.

The love-struck couple started out at St Wilfrid's High School, in Blackburn. Paul pursued her relentlessly with flowers and chocolates but she insisted friends was all it would ever be.

The story of Paul and Gill came to light after Asda launched a competition aimed at finding the country's most romantic couples.

Gill's grandmother, Gladys Walker, of Bowling Green Close, nominated the pair for the competition by compacting the couple's life story into a one-page letter.

Asda in Blackburn picked the romantic duo of Yates Fold, Blackburn, to be the winners of their heat as part of a feature on ITV's daytime show, Today with Des and Mel.

And despite not being selected for the next round, the couple were awarded a £20 voucher from the store.

Gladys said: "Paul always had a twinkle in his eye when he was talking to her and I knew there was more to it than they were letting on. He pursued her relentlessly and I found it hard to believe they were still just good friends. I wasn't deterred by Gill's denials and I was always sure they would be married."

The pair parted company during their university years but always remained friends. Paul returned to the area to teach and Gill, 26, a social worker with Blackburn with Darwen Council, followed suit and both began helping out at a youth group.

Gladys added: "She still denied any romance. She said he was annoying and I told her that meant she had met the man she would marry!

"At Christmas he bought her 12 presents and re-wrote the 12 days of Christmas.

"The last gift brought a tear to my eye - it was a huge Christmas card 'To the one I love' but it looked all yellow and old. Paul had bought it 12 years earlier but had been too shy to carry it into school to give it to her and it had remained under his bed all these years."