A COUPLE have been reunited after a love letter posted 10 years ago was found down the back of a fireplace.

Thanks to the discovery of the long-lost Cupid's correspondence, Valentine's Day this year will be the first Steve Smith from Paignton and his Paris-based fiancee Carmen Ruiz-Perez have spent together.

The couple, both aged 42, are so overjoyed to be back together after 16 years apart they are planning to get married in July.

The sweethearts were reunited when a letter Steve posted to Carmen's mum's Spanish villa 10 years ago was found behind the fire place during renovation work.

The long-lost love note was finally delivered to Carmen who couldn't believe her luck.

"It was incredible when my mum gave me the letter," she said.

"I didn't phone Steve right away because I was so nervous. It had been 10 years since he wrote and I didn't know what he would think.

"I nearly didn't phone him at all. I kept picking up the phone then putting it down again. But I knew I had to make the call."

Steve, who lives in Roselands, was ecstatic to hear from Carmen.

He said: "I couldn't believe it when she phoned.

"I thought it was one of my mates messing around. I asked her lots of questions that only she would know the answer to. I had just moved house but luckily I had kept my phone number."

The love story began 17 years ago when Carmen was a foreign student staying in the Bay.

Steve and Carmen fell in love but Carmen, who is Spanish but lived in France, had to return to Paris.

The couple got engaged and fought to keep their relationship alive.

Every other weekend Steve would travel to Paris to spend time with Carmen. But after nine months of travelling it became too much and they went their separate ways.

The pair never forgot each other and six years after they parted Steve tried to contact Carmen.

Steve wrote to Carmen's flat in Paris. But she had moved and his letter went unanswered.

Still determined to trace his lost love, Steve found another address, this time for Carmen's mum's villa in Spain. He sent the letter that would take 10 years to be opened.

When Carmen's mum received the letter she put it on the mantelpiece and forgot about it.

Last year, 10 years after Steve sent the note, the lost correspondence was finally discovered.

After making contact again the couple recaptured their romance two days later when Steve went to France.

"Within two days of speaking to Carmen I had flown to Paris and we rekindled everything," beamed Steve.

"When we met at the airport it was like a film. We ran across the airport into each other's arms. Within 30 seconds of setting eyes on each other we were kissing."

Both Steve and Carmen say they have found the love of their life.

"I never got married and now I can marry the man I have always loved," said Carmen. "It's like we were never apart. I am so happy and so in love."

Steve added: "Finding each other again was fate. It is one of those things that was meant to be."