A love story that began in the Crawley News has ended in the paper's first wedding.   

Reader Keeley Wheatley married former soldier Frank Cassidy two years after she answered his request in this paper for penpals to help pass the time during his lonely tour-of-duty in Iraq.   

The happy couple made their vows in front of friends and family this week, and both thanked the News for bringing them together.

Frank, (28), said he could never have predicted marriage when they first met, but he knew straight away from Keeley's letters that she was special.

He said: "A lot of people wrote to me after my piece in the paper. I wrote back to everyone who wrote to me but there was something about Keeley's letter and the way she wrote back to me was really nice. I made a point of writing back to her straight away.   

"When I first came back from Iraq in 2004 I thought she would stop writing, but she kept in touch so I decided to take her out for a drink to say thank you for writing.

"We got talking and decided to try dating. I'm so glad I met her and despite us living in the same town, I probably would never have met her if it wasn't for the Army and Crawley News."

Frank, who was a lance corporal in the Household Cavalry Regiment, has now left the Army and is hoping to become a firefighter. He said if he had not met Keeley he would most likely be with a regiment recently posted in Afghanistan.   

He said: "Last week the regiment came under attack and sadly two people who were due to come to the wedding died. If I hadn't met Keeley I would be out there."   

Keeley, (20), said the special day had gone without a hitch.   

She added: "I was not going to write at first but then my mum persuaded me to just give it a go.   

"And now I just love him to bits. We have a laugh and get on really well. I'm glad he's here with me now."