THE seeds of an international romance sown in Blackburn have blossomed into wedding bells.

Hong Kong citizen Crystal Chan was introduced to German fiance Eric Wolzenburg by his twin sister Anke while studying at Blackburn College.

Anke, from Blackburn's German twin-town Altena, worked in the export department at Netlon Ltd in Mill Hill, Blackburn, and lived with Crystal at the town's YWCA during her time in East Lancashire.

Crystal met Eric after Anke invited her home to Germany in the Easter holidays.

Speaking from Germany, Crystal, 31, said: "Eric has a very warm heart, like his sister.

"I think the fact that they are twins means that they have similar personalities.

"Anke has a very nice family. I went with her brother, mother and grandmother to Holland for a holiday and we got on very well."

Eric proposed in Austria and the couple were legally married in Denmark because German restrictions would have made it difficult for them to tie the knot.

They enjoyed a traditional Western church ceremony at a castle in Altena on Sunday watched by Eric's family and Crystal's parents who travelled from Hong Kong for the occasion.

Both families will now travel to Hong Kong for a Chinese celebration next month.

Crystal, who studied for an HND in Business and Finance at Blackburn, is now looking for work in Germany and says she misses the friends she made in East Lancashire.

She already speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin Chinese fluently but is now learning German.

She added: "Eric has a good job with Allianz, the biggest insurance company in Germany.

"I can speak some German but not enough yet to use for work."

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.