A BECCLES man who may have only a few months to live has been granted his dream wedding to the lady he loves - thanks to the touching generosity of two Bungay shop owners.

A BECCLES man who may have only a few months to live has been granted his dream wedding to the lady he loves - thanks to the touching generosity of two Bungay shop owners.

Brett Alin and Kate Legg, who live on Coney Hill, decided to bring their long-term wedding plans forward to this Saturday after Mr Alin was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer just over two weeks ago.

The couple were devastated when Mr Alin was told by doctors that he was not expected to live more that six months, and having been thinking about getting married for the past year they decided to arrange the date for a few weeks' time.

And whilst they have encountered problems due to the time pressure and a lack of funds, Sharon Gittings, who owns the Amors Florist shop in Bungay, and Julie Aspinall, who owns the Wedding Design shop, have rallied to make the dream a reality by providing flowers and a wedding dress worth hundreds of pounds free.

Mrs Gittings said that Miss Legg approached her at the end of last month concerning flowers for her wedding, however the couple's lack of funds and the short notice was immediately a problem.

“I just came out and asked why they were in such a rush and the poor girl burst into tears,” said Sharon Gittings, owner of the shop, who offered to give the reception flowers for free and provide the bride and bride's maids flowers at a very low cost. “When she told me about the situation I just said, come and see me and we'll see what we can do. I just want her to have the most lovely day.”

After the flowers had been sorted Mrs Gittings sent them to Mrs Aspinall's shop Wedding Design, where they realised that they could not afford a dress. However Mrs Aspinall gave them a phone call a couple of days after they had left the shop and said that they could have it for free.

“When you get a situation like this it doesn't hurt to be able to give,” she said. “It's nice to be able to help someone out.”

Miss Legg said she cried when she received the phone call. “It was my dream wedding dress,” she said. “I still can't believe it.”

The couple also have a number of friends and members of family helping them on the day. They are being driven to the wedding in a Mercedes owned by a friend, whilst another friend who lives in Beccles will be holding the reception.

“Everybody's rallying round,” said Mr Alin, who used to work as a fisherman. “Marrying Kate's going to mean everything to me.”

Mr Alin and Miss Legg will be married at Lowestoft Registry Office tomorrow.