A husband tied the knot with his wife hours before she died.

The terminally ill bride, who has not been named, was being treated on the Howard 1 ward at the Royal Sussex County Hospital in Brighton.

Knowing she did not have long to live, her husband proposed to her and booked a ceremony at a local register office.

But on the morning of her big day she was too unwell to travel to the venue so nurses thought on their feet and organised chaplain Peter Wells to wed them on the ward.

They filled the room with flowers and balloons and Rev Wells married the pair to the cheers of friends and family.

Sadly the bride died later that night.

Duncan Selbie, the chief executive of Brighton and Sussex University Hospitals NHS Trust, which runs the Royal Sussex, congratulated the nursing staff for “pulling out all the stops” to make the “precious moment” happen for the couple.