She said yes! Pair to wed in their 90s

Bill Griffiths, 91, delighted his 96-year-old partner, Florence Marshallsay, who he has known for almost 20 years, after proposing to her.

The Oldbury pair have set a date of January 16 for the wedding, which will see about 40 family and friends travelling from as far as Cornwall and Liverpool to celebrate their special day.

Father-of-three Bill, a former engineer who worked for BKB Electric in Birmingham, used to go sequin dancing with his late wife, before she died in 1997.

It was there he first met mother-of-two Flo, who ran the Malt Shovel pub in Dudley for 35 years, and would serve up to 120 meals a day single-handily.

Bill proposed to Flo at their home.

Flo said: "The proposal really took me by surprise but then life is full of surprises.

"I am really happy about it and we've got about 40 family and friends coming down for the day.

"He's a lovely chap - he looks after himself and still regularly goes down the gym."

She added: "Everyone has been really helpful but people must think we are a bit mad.

"We have known each other for about 20 years.

"We first met each other through dancing, but unfortunately I've had to stop that now."

Flo would bring food round to Bill after his wife passed away and soon the couple became inseparable, eventually agreeing to move in to Bill's house in Oldbury.

Having lived together for about 10 years Bill, who still swims weekly with his daughter, Anne, popped the question to Flo, who turned 96 last Friday.

Bill's son Peter said both families were really pleased with the news.

He said: "After losing mum, Flo, who had been a widow for a long time, just became this loving, caring person for dad and would take him meals over.

"We lost my sister Maggie to breast cancer in 2009, which really hit us all hard, and Flo just carried on being this great companion.

"They got quite close but she developed problems with her eyesight and had to give up driving.

"She moved in with dad about 10 years ago and then out of the blue he asked her to marry him, and she said yes."

The couple will tie the knot in St Hilda's Church, Oldbury, following by a meal at the Eaton Hotel in Birmingham.

Peter said: "We are all delighted for them because they make a great couple.

"They were virtually living like man and wife anyway and everyone is happy they have found each other."