But not long after she pushed her shopping trolley down the aisle to the seat beside John Burmingham, they were walking down another aisle together ... as man and wife.

The couple, she is 76 and he is 74, were married at St Mary's Church, Bures, 14 months after their first chance meeting.

And their story has an extra romantic twist. John should have been on an earlier bus – but something made him get off at Sudbury and wait for the next one.

Widow Esther, who has lived in Bures for 56 years, was on her way home on a Chambers bus from her job at the St Nicholas Hospice shop in Sudbury.

She worked at the shop as a volunteer in appreciation of the support the hospice gave her daughter Rosemary when Esther's beloved grandson Lee died from cancer.

"There wasn't room for me and my trolley at the front of the bus, so I went and sat beside John, and we got chatting," she said.

"I remember when I got off in Bures I thought 'he was nice, but I don't suppose I will ever see him again'.

"The next week he was on the bus again, and although I didn't sit with him he said hello to me.

"Then the following week he was there again and we got talking, and our relationship went from there."

Retired bus driver John. who had been a widower for more than 20 years, was on his way from Bury St Edmunds to his home in Wivenhoe when the couple first met.

"He told me later that something inside him told him to get off the bus at Sudbury, and catch the later one to Colchester," said Esther.

"I suppose to be truthful I knew almost at once that he was someone special."

The couple also found they had a mutual friend – and another bus connection. "Our best man Andy, who I have known for years, works for Chambers.

"It turned out that John knew him too, from when he used to drive for Eastern National at Colchester. When he realised we were going out together he was amazed."

Esther, who has five children, seven grandchildren and one great granddaughter, wore a pastel print two-piece and a simple, collarless jacket for the wedding. She also wore a hat – "for the first time in my life".

They were married in the church that has been an important part of her life for decades. In the past she has helped run its Sunday school and holiday club.

The ceremony was followed by a reception at Bures' Ferriers Barn centre for disabled adults where she used to do voluntary work.

"John has no close family, and he's only now getting to know the names of all mine," said Esther, who will be moving soon to her new husband's home at Wivenhoe.

"I love Bures and after 56 years it is going to be hard to leave," she added.

barbara.eeles@sudburytoday.co.uk