A couple travelled almost 10,000 miles and spent £3,000 to get married but ended up tying the knot back home in Sussex.

Jonathan Payne and Judith Parkins plans for a dream Caribbean wedding were wrecked three times in a fortnight by two hurricanes.

They fled Jamaica to escape one storm, only for the second to hit them in the Dominican Republic.

The couple, of Filching Road, Eastbourne, had spent more than a year preparing every aspect of their big day.

"They had planned to fly to Jamaica, travel to Montego Bay, meet people to act as witnesses, get married and spend a two-week honeymoon in all-inclusive five-star luxury.

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Tropical flowers were to arch round a Greek temple where they would exchange their vows as a three-strong band played in the background.

Their union was to have come three years after they met on holiday in Tenerife, having both lost partners to cancer.

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But from the start, ominous signs suggested all would not run smoothly.

First their flight from Heathrow on September 7 was delayed by a day.

When they finally arrived in Jamaica, they spent less than 24 hours in their hotel before they had to leave because Hurricane Ivan was 12 hours away.