TWO Sussex lovebirds will break a world record for being the oldest couple when they get married in June.

George Kirby, 102, and Doreen Luckie, 94, of the Langham Hotel, Eastbourne, have been together for 27 years and will say their vows on June 3, George’s 103rd birthday.

Between them they will have a record-breaking 194 years and 281 days on their wedding day.

The couple met in 1988 through September Song, an organisation helping mature men and women to meet new friends.

Ms Luckie said: “We met and just liked each other straight away, so we kept seeing each other.

“He liked the roses I had in my garden.”

Despite meeting in 1988 and setting up home together in 1990, they only recently decided to get married.

Ms Luckie explained: “The family suggested that we might like to get married. After all this time, well, why not?”

George, who spent 25 years working as a physical education coordinator in the RAF, was a keen and talented boxer and won all of the 60 fights he entered during his life.

After leaving the RAF he did not retire until he was 94, working as a chauffeur, managing a restaurant, sterilising instruments at Queen Mary’s Children’s Hospital and finally as a gardener.

Doreen worked for much of her career as a shorthand typist for the Director of Public Prosecutions, typing out documents and court case transcripts, including those of the Kray twins and the Moors murderers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley.

They now live in The Langham Hotel, which is owned by Mr Kirby’s son Neil.

He said: “They are treated like royalty here, and they absolutely deserve it.”

The couple hope to raise money for the Royal Air Forces Association and the Women’s Royal Naval Service Benevolent Trust, rather than receive wedding presents.

To make a donation, please send cheques payable to George Kirby to support RAFA, or Doreen Luckie for the WRNS Benevolent Trust to them C/O Langham Hotel, 43-49 Royal Parade, Eastbourne, BN22 8LE.

Background

George Kirby and Doreen Luckie are not the first couple to find love in their later years.

In February The Argus reported that Dennis Hatch, 89, and Nancy Roberts, 84, fell in love after meeting over breakfast at the Blind Veterans UK centre in Brighton.

Mr Hatch, who volunteered for the Navy in 1943, suffers from macular degeneration and became involved with the charity after his wife died.

Ms Roberts started volunteering for Blind Veterans when her late husband Ted went blind overnight. After his death they spent time together at the Ovingdean rehabilitation centre and fell in love.