TRUE love is marrying the girl next door, so Darryl Howells walked a few yards and asked Debbie Harris for a date.

She agreed, but the course of true love never did run smooth..... and Darryl forgot to turn up.

Debbie, not surprisingly, was none too pleased and the couple in Comet Close, Weymouth, did not speak to each other for a further four months.

Then Darryl plucked up courage and asked her out again. Debbie said yes... and again Darryl stood her up.

He said: "This time I had a good excuse because I'd had a car crash and I was in Poole General Hospital with whiplash injuries."

But true love can overcome all obstacles and the third time Darryl asked Debbie out she not only agreed but they both made it to the date.

Darryl said: "We went out on Trawler Race Day and it just blossomed from there."

Within 18 months they were married and Debbie is very pleased that she finally fell for the boy next door.

She said: "We had known each other by sight for quite a while, but once we went out together it all happened very quickly. We basically met and married in 18 months.

"I certainly never expected to marry the boy next door. Everything just seemed to fall into place and that was it."

Darryl's father, Peter said: "It really was a case of the boy who married the girl next door and my wife, Susan, and I are both very pleased.

"They certainly hit it off together and they seem to balance each other. He is very outward going and she is very solid."

Darryl and Debbie, who were both pupils at Budmouth School, now live at Tollard Close, Poole, from where Darryl works as a Town Planning Officer with Poole Borough Council while Debbie is a Local Government Officer with Bournemouth Borough Council.

The couple married at the Salterns Hotel, Poole.

Debbie wore an ivory two-piece dress with a bodice of duchesse satin with applique detailing with pearls and sequins. Her duchesse satin A-line skirt with chiffon overlay fell into a full train.

Debbie also wore a tiara edged with pearls.

She was attended by bridesmaid Jade Howells, the bridegroom's niece, while the best man was the groom's friend Richard Quarry.

Darryl said the couple had planned on a honeymoon to the exotic Indonesian island of Bali, but the international situation forced them to cancel that. Instead they are now planning a luxury holiday in the Caribbean for 2002.