Terminally-ill Matthew Roche clung on to life until he fulfilled his final wish - to marry his partner Christopher Cramp.

They made history on Monday when they became the first gay couple in the UK to tie the knot.

Most same-sex partners have to wait until December 21 to register a civil partnership under new laws but Matthew and Christopher were given special dispensation because Matthew, 46, was dying of cancer.

The couple were married in the chapel of St Barnabas Hospice, Worthing, on Monday, surrounded by friends and family. Matthew died the following day.

Today Christopher paid tribute to his partner of seven years.

He said: "It was a blissfully happy day. That night we watched the news and I said to Matthew, 'look, we're on TV'. He was thrilled."

Matthew went to sleep and did not wake up on Tuesday morning.

Christopher said: "I truly believe he hung on until we could get married and then let himself go. It was his one wish.

"He was in a huge amount of pain but he died a very happy man.

"Matthew was a private man but for him to leave us having just made history as the first gay man to legally marry in the UK is exactly the kind of legacy he would have wanted."

Matthew and Christopher, who shared a home in Southwick, met 12 years ago at Secrets nightclub in Brighton.

They were close friends but became a couple five years later and shared many happy years together.

Matthew was a nursing assistant at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton, and Christopher is a staff nurse at Southlands Hospital in Shoreham.

He fondly remembers a four-month backpacking holiday in Australia shortly after they got together and a break in the Czech Republic last year.

He said: "He was an extremely caring and gentle man. He had a love of antiques and a fondness for growing palms. The house is full of them and will be a constant reminder to me."

Matthew was diagnosed with cancer in October after suffering severe stomach pains since February.

Christopher said: "It has long been an ambition for us to form a legal partnership. We never bothered with a blessing before because it had no legal meaning.

"The timing of the law coming in has been incredible, which convinces me that Matthew fought very hard to hold on, despite his agony."