A GWENT firefighter and his Turkish bride, pictured, will be starting their new life together in Britain - with a little help from your Argus.

The Argus exclusively revealed on September 30 how Daren Austin, 28, a firefighter, from Newport Road, Caldicot, and his wife Emel, 30, were faced with an agonising wait by the Immigration Service to see if she was allowed to enter the country after they married in Turkey last month.

But Emel was yesterday granted a visa to enter Britain by the British embassy in Istanbul. A delighted Daren said from Turkey: "It is absolutely fantastic news and we would like to say a big thank you to the Argus for all your help.

"You have this vision of going to see these immigration people with hundreds of people queuing but the whole thing only lasted about five minutes - it was unbelievable and the guy who interviewed us was so nice.

"He told us he had read the article about us and said it was a really nice piece, so the Argus has helped us a hell of a lot.

"The chap didn't even interview me and he told us that he could see we were a genuine case.

"We are on such a high now and we are really going to celebrate today.

"We both couldn't sleep last night from worry but we're now thinking that we worried for a month about nothing.

"A year ago this seemed so far away, just a dream, but now we are coming home together."

Emel, who has never visited the UK before, said: "I'm so happy and excited that we can start our new life together in Wales."

The couple first met when Daren was on holiday in Turkey two years ago.

He said it was "love at first sight" and the couple stayed in touch by telephone and text messages with Daren going over to Turkey to visit her every few months whenever his job with the South Wales Fire Service would allow him the time off.

Although they were worried about Emel's parents' reaction, the couple tied the knot in the holiday resort of Marmaris on Turkey's west coast on September 21. Daren's parents Malcolm and Carol Austin travelled to Turkey for the event.

The happy couple are due to fly home to Wales on Sunday.