WHEN she laid eyes on her date for the first time, Alison Sammut knew she had found the man of her dreams.

But little did she know that, following a whirlwind romance, she would be his wife.

For years the 40-year-old had been left disappointed in relationships, with her last long-term partner leaving her heartbroken.

But when she met Steve on an online dating website she knew it would lead to something good.

“He seemed like a perfect gentleman,” says Alison dreamily. “He had seen my profile on the online dating site, Flirt Finder, and sent me a message.

“We kept sending messages on that first day, which was just over a year ago, and the next day he asked me if I wanted to meet for a drink.”

The couple decided to meet at Newlands Shopping Precinct in Witham, Steve’s home town.

Alison relives the excitement of that day as she reveals: “I was quite nervous that morning as I got ready but it just felt right to make the move to meet him.

“I wore my decent black trousers and a casual top and I remember he was wearing his Malta T-shirt, jeans and brown leather shoes.

“Bless him, he had obviously finished work that morning – he works nights as a cleaner in Morrisons in Maldon – went back to his mum’s house to get changed and came straight back out to meet me.

“He had been waiting for 30 minutes when I stepped off the bus.” But instead of waiting where they had arranged, Steve, 39, was keeping watch of the number 77 buses in anticipation of seeing the lady of his dreams step off.

When she did he was there to greet her off the bus.

Alison says: “I thought he looked like the perfect gentleman and I can honestly say it was love at first sight. He said he felt it too.”

The couple went to Braintree Freeport for a Chinese meal. “We had our first kiss outside the restaurant,” giggles Alison.

Smitten with each other, the first date did not end there. Alison and Steve drove up to Harwich to spend the day sightseeing, went shopping for food and went back to Alison’s home in Hunting Gate, Greenstead, in Colchester, where she cooked them both dinner. “You hear bad things about people who visit online dating sites but I wasn’t worried at all. I trusted Steve and still do. “He stayed that night and for the whole week afterwards because he had a holiday from work.

“We had a wonderful week, having day trips out to the beach, chatting and getting to know each other. He met my mum too.

“We found we had things in common, such as the type of music we listen to, and I can’t think of anything he said that made me worry or put me off.”

But when it came around to the following Sunday night it was time for Steve to leave and go to work.

Alison says: “When Steve left on that Sunday he said he felt like his heart had been ripped out. After he had gone I was just crying because I didn’t want him to go!”

However, he did not stay away long and after his shift ended, he picked up his belongings from his mum’s house and moved in with Alison. The whirlwind romance did not end with Steve moving in, however.

While the couple were shopping just a month later, in July last year, Steve stopped outside a jewellers and asked Alison if she liked a ring.

When she said yes he proposed – right outside the shop. Alison admits she had a “funny feeling” he would propose soon as they had spoken about wanting to be together forever.

But she wasn’t expecting him to get down on one knee. She says: “I had a great big smile on my face. I suppose people were looking but I didn’t think anything of it. We went into that shop and bought the ring there and then.”

Although the couple planned a June 2014 wedding they decided not to wait and after having their first holiday together in Blackpool in September, the couple married at Colchester Register Office on November 24 last year, less than six months after they first met.

Her mum and two brothers were by her side along with her friends and Steve’s family and friends.

Alison, who suffers with Diabetes, adds: “It just felt so right to get married to Steve. It really felt like I had spent my life waiting for him.”