Gran and her toyboy renew wedding vows

When Simon Martin married a woman 40 years his senior, few thought their relationship would go the distance.

But, after tying the knot back in 2005, 38-year-old Simon, of Cradley Heath, and his 76-year-old wife Edna have now renewed their vows.

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The couple held a ceremony in the home they now share in Weston-Super-Mare, Somerset, with Edna wearing the same purple dress she wore on their wedding day.

"When we got together, Simon said if he could have just one year with me, it would be worth it," said Mrs Martin, who is a year older than her husband's father Eric.

"Now we've done six, and before I go galloping off into senility, we wanted to celebrate."

Mr Martin, who is profoundly deaf in one ear and dyslexic dispraxic, a condition that causes extreme clumsiness, is an expert musician.

The pair renewed their vows in front of an old organ he has restored since moving in with his wife. He played a rousing rendition of Abba's Mamma Mia during the ceremony.

The couple caused a national stir when they first got together, with Edna portrayed as a predatory grandmother and Simon as a naive man who had never had a girlfriend before.

They met at an organ concert at the Odeon in Weston in 2003 and say it was love at first sight.

And they have now proved all of their doubters wrong and have the blessing of their respective families.

"Our relationship is deeper now," says Edna. "We're stronger together and there's still a wild physical attraction between us."

Mr Martin added: "Before I met Edna I was withdrawn and had no friends. She's taught me what life is all about."

Mr Martin still lived with his mother and father in Sydney Road, Cradley Heath, before the couple met.

"He lived with his parents for 30 years and did the teenage thing when he was 25 and developed much later. He was totally isolated," said Mrs Martin.

"Now our relationship has the same passion as a pair of 25-year-olds. We kiss about 150 times a day.

"We hold hands all the time – we even sleep holding hands."

Before Martin, Edna had been in another relationship with a toyboy – a milkman 16 years her junior – after divorcing her husband of 37 years and the father of her four children.

He died of cancer five years before she met Simon.

"Eddy was a revelation," said Simon. "We laughed and laughed and laughed. Others may have noticed the age gap, but we certainly didn't. And she was very glamorous, too."

Edna found Simon equally irresistible, but the pair were worried about the age gap and the perception of others.

For one thing, Simon didn't know how his parents, who were younger than Edna, would take the news he'd fallen in love with a 70-year-old grandmother. And Edna felt the right thing to do would be to let Simon meet a girl his own age.

They were torn by angst but one day in January 2005 Simon made up his mind. He wrote Edna a love letter declaring himself, then took the train to Weston. The rest, as they say, is history and the couple were married at Weston-super-Mare register office in July that year.

"Every night I go to sleep lying on Simon's shoulder and we wake up holding hands. We're madly in love. Being married to Simon is magical," she added.

When Mr and Mrs Martin first got together, they appeared on their own reality show to share their story.

They featured in the Channel Five documentary Old Enough To Be His Mother.

"All of this publicity came as a total surprise to us," said Simon. "Lots of people with age gaps get married but mostly it's the other way round I suppose. Because I am younger than Edna it's caused quite a stir."

He said they also regularly get approached by people in the street offering their congratulations. And television companies in New Zealand, Poland and Australia had all asked them to visit for filming.

"We're astounded because as far as we're concerned we just fell in love and wanted to spend all of our time together so we got married," said Mrs Martin.

However, it is not just the age gap that has hit the headlines. The couple were again in the papers after Simon admitted he also like to cross dress in women's clothing.

But his loyal wife stands by his decision.

"If he wants to dress up in a green caterpillar suit with pink flip flops what does it matter? I don't give a monkey's," she said.