IF you are going to make a romantic gesture, the top of the Eiffel Tower – or as near as you can get to it – is a pretty impressive place to choose.

Perched up there, about 1,000ft above the ground, how can a lady say no?

So when Lloyd Tomkins produced a solitaire ring from his pocket, went down on one knee and asked the love of his life to marry him, he must have been quietly confident of the answer.

That was in February two years ago and this June, Lloyd and his wife Lorraine celebrate their first wedding anniversary.

But this Valentine’s Day special has more twists than a Midsomer murder. For starters both bride and groom are registered blind. They suffer from nystagmus, which is involuntary movement of the eyeball. So organising an event as important as nuptials involved extra effort.

And then, just as they thought everything was sorted, a burglar broke into their home the day before the wedding and stole various items relating to it.

Lorraine said: “He took shirts and waistcoats and other things. I actually disturbed him. I woke up in the early hours of the morning and noticed a light was on downstairs. When I went down he dashed out of the house carrying the stuff. When police caught him, he said he had been told there were drugs in the house. There were, but they were for our condition. They wouldn’t have been much good to him.”

For some bizarre reason, among his haul the thief took the shirts and waistcoats specially chosen for the wedding. Presumably he hoped to sell them, but there must be a limited market for fancy goods like that.

Lorraine said: “I was devastated. I spent the whole of the next day trying to get replacements in the right sizes. They had to be just right, because they were vital for the day. Without them I would have probably have postponed the whole thing. They were that important.”

Fortunately last minute replacements were found and the wedding, on June 19, 2010, went ahead as scheduled, followed by a reception for 85 at Malvern Rugby Club and an evening party for more than 200 at the same venue. This Valentine’s Day couple are, you see, well-known and well-loved.

They met through the health group Sight Concern and first lit the romantic fire on a group trip to Bournemouth in 2007. They were both members of the Worcester fund-raising committee and fellow members decided to play cupid, organising a Christmas dinner and then tactfully not turning up, leaving Lloyd and Lorraine on their own for a romantic meal.

The trip to France was to mark Lorraine’s 50th birthday, but little did she know what Lloyd had in mind.

She said: “I thought something might be going on but I wondered what was happening when he started pulling something out of his pocket. Then when he went down on one knee it was really special.

Of course I said ‘yes’ right away.”

The proposal was made in the restaurant high up the Eiffel Tower and there were smiles all around from fellow diners.

The pair eventually honeymooned in Antigua, an exotic destination beyond Lorraine’s wildest dreams. Although she had been married before, this was her first holiday.

She said: “We never did holidays the first time.”

In fact, bride and groom in this saga seem particularly well matched, even down to their forms of nystagmus. Lloyd sees better at night and Lorraine during the day.

They visit the Sight Concern centre in Worcester every week and every fortnight the branch in Malvern, where they live off Pickersleigh Road.

Lorraine said: “We play bingo, skittles, dominos, enjoy country dancing, visiting the theatre and going on trips. We love the social side and we love helping people.

Lloyd is wonderful to me and we lead a very full life.”

Which is what you get when you mix the romance of Paris with Valentine’s Day, an engagement ring and the Eiffel Tower.