IT took three words - “Do you dance?” - for Denis Rider to know he had found the girl for him.

“She said: ‘I love dancing’ so I said: ‘Let’s go!’ And that was that,” smiles Denis. “Four months later we were married.”

The couple, who are about to celebrate their first wedding anniversary, are blissfully happy and say “every day is a honeymoon”. What makes their love story so remarkable is that Denis is 90 and Doris is 92.

“I knew Doris was my young lady as soon as we danced, I was so sure of it,” says Denis, recalling the day they got together in the summer of last year.

“When you know, you just know. It doesn’t matter how old you are,” adds Doris.

The couple, who live in Pudsey, knew each other a little from attending the same church, but it took a dance to ignite the spark. “There had only been a passing ‘hello’ between us, then we went on a church trip to Llandudno,” says Denis. “I was having a drink in the hotel bar with a couple of pals and I heard music coming from upstairs, so I went up to the dance hall. There was only one seat left, it was next to Doris. I asked if I could sit down and we chatted for a while and watched the dancers.”

Doris’s face lights up as she recalls the moment the gentleman with kind eyes asked her for a dance. “He said ‘Do you dance?’ and we were off - we did quite a few ballroom dances. We just clicked,” she says.

The couple met up after the trip. “Back home, I asked Doris if I could see her again and we went on a few dates,” says Denis. “I knew she was the Doris for me, so after a couple of months I decided to propose.”

And, to his delight, Doris said ‘Yes’.

The couple got married in October last year at Pudsey United Reformed Church - and Denis’s daughter, Denise, who is a pastor, led the wedding ceremony. “It was lovely that she was able to marry us. It was a day to remember,” smiles Denis.

Adds Doris: “Our family couldn’t believe it when we said we were getting married - they thought it was wonderful.”

Both Denis and Doris have been married before. Doris was a young mother when her first husband, Hedley, died aged 35. “He had a heart attack, it was very sudden,” she says. “We had three children - our youngest, John, was only two. I was on my own with them, but thankfully I had good neighbours who helped out. I did part-time jobs, anything I could to bring in some money.

“I met someone-else later on, but it didn’t last. I’d been on my own for over 50 years when I met Denis. It’s wonderful to find love again, he makes me very happy. Our life is one long honeymoon.”

“We are very lucky people,” says Denis. “Some people never find love, and we have both found it again later in life. It’s never too late!”

Today Doris, whose children are Maureen, Jean and John, has seven grandchildren and three great grandchildren.

Denis’s first wife, Gladys, was diagnosed with dementia and he cared for her at home for several years until she died. Their daughter, Denise, has two children and Denis also has six great grandchildren.

Denis was born in Pudsey and, after a spell as an apprentice electrician, he became a supervisor at English Electric. He has been a keen cyclist most of his life. “My dad founded the Pudsey Owls Road Club - he called it that because we lived on Owlcotes Terrace. He loved cycling, he was known as ‘Dad Rider’ around Pudsey,” says Denis. “My first cycle ride was to Liverpool, I was only eight. Dad said, ‘I’ve bought you a little bike’ and we were off. He kept pushing me along beside him.”

Denis went on to compete in cycle races across the country, including the 1965 Cyclo Cross National Championships in Roundhay Park, Leeds, which drew cyclists from around the world. He was captain of the Pudsey Owl Road Club racing team and competed in races of up to 100 miles.

Denis and Doris are still very active. They’ve been off on several trips around the UK this year, and they go out for a walk every day. “We like to keep fit and walk together; it’s good for a relationship,” says Denis.

“We always listen to each other too, that’s very important,” says Doris.

And helping the couple do just that is hearing aid audiologist Lee Barrington. As branch manager of Bloom Hearing Specialists in Pudsey, Lee had known Denis for several years. “Then I met Doris, she was struggling with her hearing aids and I cleaned and serviced them for her,” says Lee, who assesses hearing and prescribes and fits hearing aids for clients across West Yorkshire, at the branch, on home visits and working with local care homes.

“Hearing aids need constant TLC. Denis and Doris come in every four months and I clean, service and check their hearing aids,” says Lee. “Making hearing health a priority helps people maintain their quality of life, and relationships, as they age.

“They say that wearing a hearing aid can make you feel seven years younger. They give you a whole new lease of life - as Denis and Doris know well!”

Bloom started out as Regional Hearing Services, set up in 2004 in Saltash, Cornwall. By 2010 it had a large network of branches, outlets and field dispensers throughout the country. In 2012 it was sold to leading hearing aid manufacturer Widex and became Bloom. It is part of a group of 450 branches worldwide, with 23 in the UK.

“As an audiologist within a community, I have a great relationship with local people,” says Lee. “ Denis’s daughter and her husband are also customers so it’s quite a family affair here! I find it rewarding, helping to improve lives.”

“We couldn’t do without our hearing aids,” says Doris. “You take your hearing for granted, but when it starts to go it affects your whole life. I have glaucoma and I wish they could do the same for eyes as they do for ears.”

“Having a hearing aid has helped me in church; I used to miss some of what was being said,” says Denis.

As they chat, the couple pat each others’ hands and exchange smiles. Their happiness is infectious. “To find someone we really care about, at our age, is wonderful,” says Doris.

“It’s a marvellous relationship. She’s my star,” adds Denis.

* Visit bloomhearing.co.uk or call (0113) 2574708.