NEWLYWED pensioners who found love again after losing their partners to cancer ditched traditional wedding day gifts to boost a charity striving to find a cure for the illness.

Dave and Shirley Holman asked guests at their special occasion to make donations to Cancer Research UK instead of buying them presents – and were “flabbergasted” to raise £900.

“We said on the invitations that we’ve got two of everything – so we wanted donations to the cause,” Dave, 85, told the Herald. “We’ve both lost partners to that disease.

“Everyone backed us all the way. We were flabbergasted by the total – it was wonderful.”

The couple, of Yarde Hill Orchard, met through their long-standing membership of Sidmouth Conservative Club and their shared love of dancing.

They tied the knot in Exeter and fittingly headed back to the Radway Place venue for an evening party attended by 100 friends and family.

Shirley, 77, said of the cash raised: “It’s a fantastic amount of money. It was a lovely evening that was a great event for our friends and family.”

Dave and Shirley handed over a cheque to Diane Davies, manager of Sidmouth’s Fore Street Cancer Research UK shop, at the Conservative Club on Monday.

Diane hailed the gesture as “absolutely brilliant” and added: “They are a lovely couple and the money will be a great boost to the charity.”

Dave and Shirley were married on November 16 last year.