A BLIND couple have fallen in love in a "fairytale" story, more than 50 years after leaving the school they both attended.

Casanova Norman Stokes, 68, wooed 73-year-old Gladys Knightley, of Ashford, Kent, at a school reunion in Eastbourne, in May.

The pair had not had contact since 1948 but the sparks soon flew and after a short courtship, they are getting married next month.

Mr Stokes, of Beckett Close, Belvedere, admits he very nearly did not get to meet his future wife.

The former shorthand typist, who has been blind from birth, was not keen to go to the reunion but was "bullied" into it by a pal.

Mr Stokes, 68, said: "We both had no-one to sit with so were put on the same dinner table together. Then we chatted and it went from there.

"We just clicked straight away and have a wonderful chemistry. I have fallen in love again, it's like a fairytale."

Mr Stokes, whose first wife died in October 2002, says the pair share a love of the theatre but he admits he is not as twinkle-toed as his fiancee.

He added: "Gladys loves dancing. She tried to teach me the square tango but I wasn't too good. Dancing is not really my forte."

Mr Stokes and "my lady" as he calls his partner both went to Dorton House School for the Blind, Dorton Village, Buckinghamshire.

Even though they were both at the school between 1942 and 1948, Mr Stokes says they have very different memories of each other.

He said: "I remember her very well, especially her piano playing. But she says she does not remember me.

"She only remembers my reputation, because I was a bit of a rebel."

The pair are set to tie the knot in Ashford on December 30.