THEY may not be love's young dream, but newlyweds Bill and Doreen Owen know that you're never too old to be hit by Cupid's arrow.

Despite clocking up more than 140 years between them already, Bill and Doreen decided it was time for a new start -- getting hitched last weekend, three years after Bill's wife died.

The couple, both residents of Greenfield Nursing Home in Tag Lane, Ingol, tied the knot six months after they first met when Doreen moved from Longridge, where she ran a butcher's shop.

Bill, originally from New Hall Lane, Preston, said: "The last thing I expected when I moved in was to find love. I thought I'd had my shout. I had been living here for 18 months when she moved in. I wasn't expecting it. But it really was love at first sight. She saw me and knew what a catch I was." Tongues were soon wagging inside Greenfields as residents heard that a relationship was blossoming in their midst, but it came as quite a surprise when the couple announced they were to marry.

Bill, 74, proposed to Doreen, 69, on bended knee, but popping the question wasn't a problem -- it was the question he had to ask next.

Bill added: "I knew she would say yes, we love each other.

"We were more nervous about asking the local vicar, who comes here every Tuesday to see the residents.

"We were over the moon when agreed to wed us."

The ceremony was held at St Andrew's Church, in Cottam, on Saturday, followed by a lunchtime reception at the place where they romance began -- in the common room of the nursing home.

Bill added: "Everyone has been great and helped out. It took a lot of preparing and we are very grateful.

"I never expected to be this happy when I moved in."