Granny leaves husband for lover aged 22

A 60-year-old grandmother has left her husband of 38 years to marry a 22-year-old Moroccan she met on the internet.

But Sylvia Ouhtit, of Dudley, is unable to be with her new husband after immigration officials refused him permission to move to Britain.

She divorced 62-year-old Eric Norton to marry Moroccan Tarik Ouhtit, 38 years her junior. The British consulate in Casablanca refused Mr Ouhtit permission to move here. Officials are not satisfied the pair will stay together.

The mother-of-three said: "He's never committed a crime, he's very well educated, speaks very good English and would not be asking the state for anything.

"Love can cross barriers such as culture and age."

Mr Ouhtit, speaking from his home near Rabat in Morocco, said officials were shortsighted.

"They just look at the obvious thing which is the age between us," he said. "But since when has age made a difference?"