Childhood sweethearts Alan and Elaine Maddocks waited 42 years for their wedding.

But their big day - and night - has been ruined in a row over other guests at their wedding hotel in Bradford.

Mr Maddocks says he and his new bride were disturbed and threatened by midnight revellers at a 40th birthday party - prompting them to leave the hotel for home at 3am.

The couple were compensated over the room. But Mr Maddocks is furious that flowers promised to his wife have never arrived.

“And I am not leaving it like this,” he said.

However, the Guide Post Hotel in Low Moor dispute Mr Maddocks’ claims. General manager Sue Barnes says there was no trouble from the 40th birthday party guests. And she says she has simply ‘been too busy’ to send the flowers. “But I will,” she said.

The Maddocks’ paid more than £3,000 for their wedding at the hotel on November 23. “Everything was fine until we went to bed at midnight,” said Mr Maddocks, 59. “Then doors were slamming and there was banging. By this time it was 1am and I went to see the duty manager.

“The disturbance seemed to be coming from the room across where a 40th birthday party was being held.

“The duty manager spoke to someone from the room who wasn’t very sympathetic. Later, there was kicking at our door and threats of violence. We tried to calm down and by this time it was 2.30am. We decided to go home to Eccleshill.”

Mr Maddocks admits he ‘got stroppy’ with staff. “It was our wedding night and it was ruined,” he said. “I told them they had not heard the last of it. That we wanted compensation.

“We returned the following day and did not get a very sympathetic response. So we went back again a few days later. Again, little sympathy. But they gave us £103 for the room we didn’t stay in and said flowers would be sent to Elaine. They have never arrived.”

Alan and Elaine met in 1977 when they were both 16 and were together for a while before going their separate ways and marrying other people

“But I never forgot her,” said Mr Maddocks. “And, amazingly, we have never lived more than a mile apart. But we never saw each other for 39 years even though we were so close by.”

Then in 2016 Elaine posted a message on Facebook. “I knocked on her door the next day and we struck up a relationship. Forty-two years later, we got married,” said Mr Maddocks.

In another twist of fate, the couple’s lives apart seemed to mirror each other. Both have a boy and a girl and there were similarities workwise.

Elaine, also 59, took early retirement from her job as a pharmacist while Alan works as a kitchen porter at the White Rose office park in Leeds.

“After such a long time, we finally marry and it is ruined,” said Mr Maddocks. “All we talk about from that night are the bad things.

“I fell in love with Elaine the first time I saw her and 42 years later I got what I wanted. But the trouble is all we talk about.

“We are still waiting for the flowers. I am determined they will keep this promise.”

Sue Barnes said: “Any trouble was caused by the wedding party. Mr Maddocks said he was threatened but there was no information about this. I spoke to people at the 40th birthday party and the man Mr Maddocks accused denied it. He admitted helping Maddocks family members put garlands round their door, but said he thought this was just a laugh. He apologised.

“The people at the 40th didn’t do anything wrong.”

“I gave Mr Maddocks his money back as a goodwill gesture and said I would send flowers. And I will. It has not been the first thing on my mind in a very busy time. He has clogged up my phone and that is not acceptable. That’s the end of it,” she said.

“Staff said he had been aggressive and that any aggression only came from him. As far as I am aware, the 40th party people did not cause any trouble.

“We have done our bit. One hundred per cent.”